Comment by LyndsySimon | Hacker News Reader

Comment by LyndsySimon | Hacker News Reader

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> People who are color blind see things differently too. That doesn't mean red doesn't exist; just that they can't see it.

Right - color blindness is a recognized disability.

> He was fired because he aired views in a way that upset a lot of people, and Google is a business that needs to manage a workplace that's collegial and cooperative. Firing Damore was more practical than firing the 20% of the Google workforce that didn't want to work with him anymore.

Could it be argued that Damore's method in airing his views was in fact due to his being on the Autism spectrum, and therefore protected under the ADA as a disability (just like color blindness)?

If so, would that mean that Google's firing of Damore - due to an action resulting from his disability - might have violated the "reasonable accommodation" requirement of the ADA?

To be clear, I'm not stating that I believe this is the case; I'm just considering other angles from which to view the events.

I know several people on the autism spectrum. They all say Damore is just an asshole and are frustrated that so many neurotypical people are ignorant of the difference.

[IANAL]

That's an interesting question. I think Google would have a reasonable argument toward damore creating hostile environment toward a group with a protected status. They then could argue he was unfit for employment. Obviously a jury would then decide, but historical precedent says that no it would not constitute a failure to provide reasonable accommodation because he was unfit for employment.

"Nevertheless, some employees with ASD and related conditions continue to struggle to show that they are qualified for employment.90 Courts continue to assert that the ability to communicate appropriately with customers and coworkers is an essential function of the jobs in question.91 Particularly in cases dealing with employees who have contact with the public or collaborative interaction with colleagues, communication challenges typical for those with autism have been sufficient to derail class coverage.92 This may prove to be a significant hurdle in litigation for employees with ASD in the future."

source: http://harvardcrcl.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Hensel.pdf

If we're talking about what laws should be, I would prefer to see something more about requirements for a good faith effort to help the employee through sensitivity training etc.

Very creative! I'm a lawyer, but not an ADA lawyer. Interesting idea though.

Cool!

I've always been interested in law, but it doesn't much interest me as a career. I am interested in going back to school with the intent of becoming an attorney later in life, though, so it's encouraging to hear that my crazy ideas aren't completely off-base.

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