Autistic woman files employment discrimination complaint against Mc's

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/22/BA8F11TF49.DTL

Fired disabled worker says Mc's biased She says new owner sacked her

after 21 years on the job

An autistic woman who had worked at the Mc's in downtown Berkeley for

21 years showed up at her job in March, after a change in ownership, and was

told that she and two other disabled workers were no longer needed, she

says.

" I was devastated ... then I was really just angry, " Craib said after

filing a discrimination complaint July 22 with the U.S. Equal Employment

Opportunity Commission. After she was fired, the complaint said, the

fast-food restaurant at Shattuck and University avenues posted a sign: " Help

Wanted - Equal Opportunity Employer. "

Craib's claim was filed under the Americans With Disabilities Act, which has

its 18th anniversary on July 26. Under the law, " if someone's a qualified

individual with a disability, they have to be treated equally alongside

other people ... and they're entitled to reasonable accommodations, " noted

Craib's attorney, Center of the Legal Aid Society's Employment Law

Center in San Francisco.

The food outlet's new owner, Nick Vergis, said he hadn't received a formal

notice of the complaint but has a strict policy against discrimination.

" I comply with all applicable laws - including the Americans With

Disabilities Act - and continually strive to maintain an environment in

which everyone feels valued and accepted, " Vergis said in a statement

released by Mc's.

Craib, 43, has Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism that typically

causes people to have trouble interacting with others and to become

preoccupied with narrow topics.

She worked the morning shift at the Mc's outlet for more than two

decades, preparing salads, busing tables and cleaning up, her lawyers said.

They said she became such a fixture that two regular customers called her

" Miss Mc's. " A job coach, funded by the state under the disability

law, visited once or twice a week to see how she was doing, Center said.

According to the discrimination complaint, Craib came to work a day or two

after Vergis bought the downtown franchise and was told by her supervisor,

" You're no longer part of the team. " The other two developmentally disabled

employees were also dismissed but at least some of the nondisabled staff

kept their jobs, Center said.

" It's somewhat uncommon, fortunately, that such a dramatic and seemingly

blatant situation of discrimination occurs, " the attorney said. But she said

disabled Americans have a high unemployment rate and have a particularly

hard time getting hired.

The claim filed July 22 asks the federal agency to make a finding of

discrimination, which would clear the way for a damage suit, Center said.

--

Ari Ne'eman

President

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network

1101 15th Street, NW Suite 1212

Washington, DC 20005

http://www.autisticadvocacy.org