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This week I met with a Manhattan spinoff group from HLAA, who call themselves the HLAA Young Professionals. The group consisted of about 20 young people (and a few elders who had come as visitors) who had all varieties of hearing loss. Some were just figuring out how to deal with hearing loss (and in fact for one young woman this was her first meeting) while others had been dealing with it for some time, in some cases their whole lives.
In addition to those with hearing loss, with hearing aids or implants, there were also at least two culturally Deaf members. When the discussion period came one of them, who could not speak, signed her comments (which were sharp and pertinent) to her friend, who then translated her remarks in spoken English. The CART operator put what she had said up onto the screen for all to read. So her comments went through two translations – from sign to spoken English to written English.
I had been asked to read from my book and because of the nature of the group, I read about my own experiences in the workplace. The discussion that followed was primarily about their experiences in the workplace. It was eye-opening.
One young woman told about working at a nonprofit organization. She was quite open during the hiring process and even knew the woman who hired her, with whom she had previously discussed hearing loss. Her hearing loss was progressive and as it got worse, she had increasing trouble talking on the telephone. She asked to be reassigned to a position that wouldn’t involve so much telephone work, or for a captioned phone. Instead her supervisor simply cut her duties. Eventually her duties diminished to the point where she had almost nothing to do. She was then laid off, with the explanation that her job was not essential.
Another told of being hired by a tech firm. Again he was quite open about his hearing loss and he was well qualified for the job he was hired for. But he couldn’t schmooze with the others, he didn’t go out to lunch or drinks. Eventually he was fired, he was told, because collaborative thinking was important for his success in the job.
We discussed these two cases at some length. Most thought these were gray areas – not outright discrimination but instead a subtle undermining that eventually led to grounds for dismissal. One person present was a lawyer but not well versed in ADA cases. Most of us thought neither of these were cases that could be won.
But they were discriminatory in the same way that the restaurant interview I described in the last post was. They put the employee with hearing loss into a no-win situation. One person suggested becoming an entrepreneur -- working for yourself so there’s no boss – but there aren’t many of us who can come up with an idea that would allow that.
The meeting was very spirited, and I think we all left feeling energized by the discussion. But I think we also all left feeling that in some situations there really is nothing the person with hearing loss can do.
I welcome comments from readers on this. I think I too gave up too quickly, both in my own job and this discussion. What can we do about these subtler forms of discrimination? Any ideas?
For those who might like to join the Manhattan HLAA Young Professionals, email Kristie D’Agnes at kristiedagnes@gmail.com.
