To disclose or not?

[elSicomoro]

As I've mentioned previously, Rho is in end-stage renal failure. Dialysis takes care of the problem for now, but she really needs a new kidney.

Her home dialysis allows her to live a relatively normal life. She can work full-time, but requires a day or two off each month for doctors' appointments. Overall, she is relatively healthy, and has only gotten sick once in the past 4 months (a nasty infection that sidelined her for 2 days...catheter infections are fairly common in dialysis patients).

Unfortunately, her condition appears to be a huge negative on her side right now. She had been working full-time as a temp for a company in University City for almost a year, and they had been incredibly understanding with her health issue...so it seemed. However, the company announced in mid-January that they were going to be letting temps go by the summer. Rho was let go in late January...she was the only temp to be let go at the time. Her work record had been impressive, and she was well-regarded by both the company and her agency. No reason was given other than the fact that all the temps were going to be let go in the near future.

From the end of January until mid-June, she was out of work. She went through a nasty period where she was in and out of the hospital several times, but things improved when she transferred to a new dialysis center. At the time, she was still on hemodialysis, so she could only work 28 or so hours a week maximum. Her agency could find her no work, and most temp agencies don't deal with part-time work orders...or at least those that Rho could work. So, she sat on the unemployment dole for most of that period.

In late May, Rho started peritoneal dialysis. This new treatment allowed her to do dialysis every night while she slept, and it allowed her to work full-time hours again. In mid-June, she started working for a company through her temp agency called Penn Maid (a large dairy company that supplies many East Coast grocery stores with dairy products). The company was made aware of her health condition, and they seemed to have no problem with it. The job paid well, it was supposed to be a temp-to-perm job, and their dairy is located less than 5 minutes from our apartment.

So, Rho worked along at Penn Maid, was doing well, and really enjoyed her job. She put in her resume with Penn Maid, just in case the agency hadn't provided a copy of it. Things seemed to be looking up. She missed a couple of days in July due to her infection, but the company and the agency were cool with it.

Three weeks ago, on a Friday afternoon, her boss told her that she was working her last day. The company's reason: They hired a permanent employee to fill the position.

Needless to say, Rho was incredibly upset, and the agency was surprised as well. Rho is again on unemployment, though it will run out right before Xmas if her agency does not find her another job.

There is really no way to prove anything here, but I do suspect that Rho has lost her last two jobs due to her medical condition. She's trying to stay positive, but it's hard for her to do. At this point, she doesn't feel that she'll ever get a full-time job again, at least until she receives a kidney transplant. She has applied for disability, but there is no guarantee that she'll be approved for it. And quite honestly, she doesn't like the idea of collecting disability...she really wants to work.

At this point, I almost think it's better for her NOT to tell anyone about her condition. After all, it's not really anybody's business, and by law, employers cannot discriminate on the basis of one's disability.

But of course, if Rho were to get a job, then start getting sick again, her employer could fire her for missing too many days. And to me, it just seems unethical for her not to disclose the information.

Opinions? Thoughts?