The Fran Question
There is a bit of brou-ha-ha going on about the recent NYT article on diabetes in the workplace. I haven't posted about the article and the quote from Fran Carpentier until now for a few reasons, not the least of which being that the entire concept terrifies me.
It's bad enough that I was rejected for life insurance recently. The idea that I could walk into an interview and be dismissed despite my qualifications simply because I have diabetes is terrifying. The subject of diabetes naturally comes up when my resume is reviewed, because a major portion of my work experience involves diabetes and all of my resume-worthy publications have the word 'diabetes' in the title.
I envision myself across the desk from a potential employer, trying to gracefully disguise my medic alert and crafting answers to questions about my diabetes-focused career that don't seem evasive yet never actually indicate that I have a chronic illnes.
Then I imagine that the person across that desk is Fran Carpentier, and I break into a cold sweat knowing that she would consider my diabetes a sufficient reason to not hire me. Despite the fact that she has acheived professional success in her chosen field (while raising a child, to boot), she would look at me and possibly assume that I can't pull it off. And that, to me, is ludicrous.
And terrifying.
Several folks have said they agree with Fran for calling attention to the challenges of diabetes. I can't get on board with that interpretation. This is a woman in the business of words. If her goal was to call attention to the struggles of people with diabetes, and to not gloss over the hard parts of living with the disease, I believe she could have (and would have) said it differently. And she may have been paraphrased or misquoted, but she has said this before (according to this post at CloseConcerns).
Why not address the issue by saying, "Knowing what it’s like to live with diabetes hour by hour, day by day, if I owned my own company I would enthusiastically support accomodations that would promote the success of people with diabetes in the workplace."
If Fran Carpentier, who knows from personal experience how successful an employee a person with diabetes can be, can honestly say that she might not hire a person with diabetes, then how can we expect the less informed, less empathetic general public to work with us? How can we expect the employer who denies a simple accomodation like cutting through a stock room to believe that people with diabetes can be productive employees?
Fran is entitled to her opinion, and entitled to broadcast it, but I'd like to shout from the rooftops that she doesn't speak for me. And I hope I never encounter her as a boss, or employers like her.
What would you say if asked about the employability of people with diabetes? Have you hired/supervised people with diabetes? How has it worked out for you?
posted by Kassie @ 8:03 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Short of my pregnancy my D has NEVER, EVER interfered with my professional life.
And even preg, it was just the endless OB appointments that drew attention to my D. Even non-D's though have the potential to have "high risk" or "complicated" pg's requiring the number of appts that I experienced. Heck, I worked right up until the day before my induction, came back the day after it failed and worked until the day before my C-section.
Until I sent out a sponsor request for the Walk, most people I work with didn't even know I was diabetic and its a SMALL (<40) office!
When I read her remark, I swear I had to lift my jaw up off my desk. She MOST DEFINITELY does NOT speak for me!
One thing that concerns me with Fran's attitide is, I could say the same thing about just about anything. Is it fair to say I don't want to hire someone who is_unmarried/has_more_than_2_kids/lives_with_elderly_parent because I don't think they could cope or give full attention to their work??? Last I heard, that would be unfair discrimination.
Kassie -
I've seen people with diabetes who are twice as productive as people who don't have the disease - and I've seen people with diabetes who readily use their disease as an excuse - to call in sick regularly or to explain poor performance.
In fact, I supervised an employee at one of my jobs that would often email with "My bloodsugar's not too good this morning - I think I'll work from home" or "I didn't get to that last email - trouble with the sugar, you know?" We had to have very careful conversations around his performance and how his health might be effecting his perfomance. In the end, he left of his own accord. It always irritated the hell out of me that he used diabetes as his excuse - and he tried to take advantage of the fact that I had diabetes and would "understand." Meanwhile, he ate poorly, would talk about how he "rarely tested" and was hospitalized three times in the year and a half he was employed with us with DKA. I just don't think he got that I wouldn't understand or excuse the trials that come as the result of an out right refusal to care well for oneself.
I talked with a colleage with diabetes employed by another company about it and she said "He gives people with diabetes a bad name. As if it isn't already hard enough for us to have a job where we can be honest about our disease." I could NOT have been more shocked. I had never seen my diabetes as a challenge when securing employment - and I am almost always up-front about my having it - as I too have a resume that includes diabetes-related stuff. Now Fran's article only underscores my colleauge's point in my mind - and it IS terrifying, you're right.
I wonder, though, if Fran's comment doesn't reflect her preconceived notions (as incorrect as they may or may not be) about most people living with type 2 and their levels of laziness or physical ability. Further - the truth in my experience has been that there are many more type 1 diabetics who are like the employee I supervised than there are type 1 diabetics who are really in control. And the truth in my experience is that there are more people who are likely to make excuses for their bad behavior or poor performance (for whom diabetes IS just that - and excuse) than there are people who take responsibility for their actions and the consequences of those actions.
The bottom line is, as an employer, would I be more careful when hiring someone with a chronic illness? Probably. I think it makes sense to be more careful. But would I exclude someone just because they have a chronic illness? Absolutely NOT.
It's crazy, though, at the point I'm at now - I don't know how I managed to have any kind of job when my diabetes was uncontrolled. It really can get in the way. My mother calls it "my first really full-time job." And it is. I simply could NOT have built as strong a resume' with bloodsugars bouncing all over the place. And I should hope that an employer wouldn't dismiss me without giving me a chance, without combing carefully through that resume' and listening carefully to my references - but I wouldn't blame them for stepping carefully.
Nicole
PS - Sorry, this turned into its own post...
My mom taught me when I was young that if I used diabetes as an excuse for things, that others would too.
What she was saying is that they would look at my diabetes as a reason why I should not be given an opportunity to do something.
It's one of the lessons she taught me that I remember every day.
Well said, Kassie! What bothers me is that her quote in such a prominent publication is like shouting from the rooftops that even people with diabetes wouldn't hire people with diabetes!
Very wrong message. Very bad choice of input, in my eyes. Thanks for this post.
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