Can I put out an ad saying “looking for a receptionist to answer phones, those in wheelchairs and those who limp need not apply…”, since I’m not excluding everyone who is disabled?
If someone in a wheelchair can perform the task, then no you cannot. Answering phones does not exactly require you to climb stairs.
Assuming we’re talking the US, the law says you can’t discriminate against any person on the basis of disability unless it prevents them from doing the job. It’s about individuals, not the “disabled” as a class. And about the specifics of the job’s tasks, not about jobs in general.
So if there is something about the particular job that makes the wheelchair-bound or limping walkers unable to do it, you’re perfectly legal not to hire them. Just be prepared to prove that inability.
People in wheelchairs make lousy roofers, and there’s no practical way for you to change the job of roofer to accomodate a wheelchair. A wheelchair user could probably do the job of roofing crew supervisor and certainly the job of roofing company receptionist.
Since you say the job description is answering phones, you can refuse to hire the deaf, the mute, and maybe the blind depending on what else they have to do besides use the phone. And that’s not discrimination; thats a “bona fide occupational qualification” or BFOQ in the jargon.
But demanding no receptionists in wheelchairs just because? That’s discrimination & not legal.
I ask because some dopers on thisthread
seem to suggest otherwise.
post #23
No, they suggested no such thing.
Employment is heavily regulated. There are all kinds of laws regulating discrimination in hiring and employment.
I have no idea what sort of laws or regulations apply to discrimination in blood donation, but I think it’s safe to assume that the standards are not necessarily the same.
heres a simple solution. put in the ad that you need a receptionist. and if any handicapable persons applies for the job, simply tell them to buzz off. the police wont bust down your door for not hiring a guy/girl in a wheel chair, even if they complain.
This is unbelievably stupid advice. At best, such practices often force unethical employers to spend considerable sums of money defending against lawsuits; at worst, an employer can wind up hugely in debt due to hefty fines and penalties, out of business altogether or even in prison.
Moderator Note:
marochko, the purpose of GQ is to provide accurate, factual answers to questions. Your post is not merely inaccurate, it is monumentally stupid. And while some joking around is permissable in this forum, I do not detect the slightest element of humor in your post. Please do not do this again.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
And the fact that there are 2 or 3 steps up from the sidewalk into your door is not enough to allow you to discriminate against hiring someone in a wheelchair.
The law requires you to make “reasonable accommodations” to permit the person to do the job. What’s reasonable? Well, if you fight it far enough, it will eventually be up to a Judge to decide that. But providing a ramp at the entrance to your business will certainly be considered “reasonable”. Heck, you ought to have that already, so disabled or elderly customers can patronize your business.