BETH RIBET JUNE 22, 2012 UCLA DIVERSITY RESEARCH CONFERENCE – BEYOND COUNTING Health and...
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Transcript of BETH RIBET JUNE 22, 2012 UCLA DIVERSITY RESEARCH CONFERENCE – BEYOND COUNTING Health and...
BETH RIBETJUNE 22, 2012
UCLA DIVERSITY RESEARCH CONFERENCE – BEYOND COUNTING
Health and Disability in U.S. Employment
as a Measure of Diversity
Meanings of Diversity
Numerical Presence
Social & Structural Climate
Distribution and Diffusion of Power Does diversity signal equity?
Disability
Social, Legal, and Medical Definitions
Broad spectrum of illness, injury, and impairment
Changing legal landscape Americans with Disabilities Act & ADA Amendments
Act of 2008 (ADAAA) United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities (UNCRPD)
Relationships Between Disability and Diversity
Disability is comparatively, an afterthought, in rhetoric and analysis of diversity
Disability is generally perceived as discrete from other vectors of diversity, such as race and gender
Disability “diversity” programs, like disability civil rights, are complicated by issues of structural access and accommodation
Integration of people with disabilities into the paid workforce has remained weak, almost static, since the passage of the ADA
Challenges of Disability Diversity
Who Pays?
Disability employment initiatives tend to break down when “accommodations” require structural change or expense
Disability diversity requires a deliberate fusion of civil rights and social welfare entitlements
- Sam Bagenstos, (2004), “The Future of Disability Law”, Yale Law Journal 114(1).
(Basic) Insights from Critical Disability Theory
Disability is a continuum, not a discrete, static basis for class membership
Disability discrimination is a social production, not a natural outgrowth of the physiology, psychology or cognition of persons with disabilities “Persons with disabilities include those who have
long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.” – UNCRPD, Article 1
Three Premises & Research Stimuli
1) Disability-friendly environments and policies can promote workplace equity across vulnerable and subordinated demographics
2) The contra-positive: High levels of hierarchy, inequity and exploitation will likely predict disability-hostile environments
3) Health and disability indicators: frequencies, impact, and management of health problems and disabilities reflect racial, gender, sexuality, class, age, and citizenship disparities
Reframing Disability in Diversity Research
Disability is not simply a discrete or intersecting vector of discrimination, or a defining characteristic relevant to diversity agendas
Disability can be an embodied consequence of discrimination, based on race, gender, sexuality, citizenship, religion, age, and class.
“Emergent Disabilities”: disabilities which would not exist, or would not be as substantial, but for social stratification and inequality
Contexts that Produce Emergent Disabilities
IncarcerationColonizationDisplacement & Immigrant & Refugee
ExploitationEthnic Cleansing & GenocideCommercial Sexual Exploitation & Human
TraffickingLabor Exploitation, Overwork, Unsafe
Working Conditions
The absence of meaningful provisions for disability inclusion, access, and support in employment degenerates and detracts from efforts to realize diversity and employment equity across vulnerable populations
Realizing disability equity in employment requires developing a complex conception of the elements of work and labor that can be disabling, and can alienate or harm workers with disabilities
The Case of Family and Medical Leave Law
Basic provisions of the FMLA Employers with 50 workers or more Minimum year of employment Protected forms of leavetaking: parental, medical,
family caregiving 12 weeks unpaid leave, no loss of benefits, and right
to return to work
Most leavetaking (52.4%) is for illness or disability (self)
An additional 30.9% involves caregiving for a family member who is ill or disabled
Family & Medical Leave Law is Facially Race & Gender Neutral, But…
The FMLA works least effectively for eligible workers with: Fewer financial safety nets Sole caregiver responsibilities (e.g. single parents) Limited healthcare access Vulnerability to compound discrimination
Family & Medical Leave Law doesn’t work at all for ineligible workers: Most migrant labor Domestic and transitional employment Casual and temporary workers
Consequences of Inadequate Leave Access
Negative Recovery or Immediate Health Outcomes
Inability to Return to WorkDecreased Productivity & Performance
Reduced Retention & AdvancementFamily Deterioration and Economic CrisisLonger-term health deterioriation
Development of co-morbid conditions Premature mortality
Community economic and health deterioration
Attempts to Litigate FMLA rights
Preliminary review of compound Title VII and FMLA claims: The more complex the discrimination and retaliation,
the less likely that the court will acknowledge the relationship between vulnerability and employer action: The Nebulous Causation and Intent Problem: the more
potential bases for discrimination, the less likely that any will be substantiated
‘Plaintiffs are just using every law to try to make something stick.’
More ‘credible’ claims involve simple patterns of discrimination
Revisiting a Premise
* Disability-friendly environments and policies promote workplace equity across vulnerable and subordinated demographics:
Expanded, disability-friendly policies in the arena of family and medical leave will likely have disproportionately beneficial consequences for workers of color, particularly women workers of color, and for communities of origin.
Challenges to Diversity and Rights Framing
Highlight health as a social justice imperativeCenter health as a diversity measure and agendaComprehend disability as a complex, directed
social production, rather than a “personal”, medical happenstance. “Disability diversity” is in part about the inclusion and treatment of people injured or sickened by social inequity.
Conceive of “disability rights” based on a heightened conception of employer, and state accountability for public, worker, and family health