Issue 123 Item 12 People With Diabetes Get Break on Hiring

Texas employers can no longer use fears of workers getting dizzy or blacking out on the job as an excuse to ban the hiring of applicants who use insulin to control their diabetes. The decision, issued by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, is based on a 1997 San Antonio case in which a man applying to be a police officer was rejected because he was an insulin-managed diabetic.

The ruling also brings the states in the 5th Circuit’s jurisdiction — Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi — into line with the rest of the nation’s circuit courts, said Mike Greene, an Oregon civil rights lawyer who also serves as chairman of the American Diabetes Association Legal Advocacy Committee.

The Americans with Disabilities Act should have prevented employers in Texas from using a blanket exclusion, but employers relied on old rulings by the appeals court for support in disqualifying insulin-managed diabetics from certain jobs.

In 1993, Jeff Kapche applied for a job as a San Antonio police officer. He passed the written test and a background check. But he failed his physical exam because of his use of insulin.

He sued and lost in 1997. A year later, the appeals court told the lower court judge to review the decision. No review was done, prompting the appeals court to do its own.

The court ruled that the city of San Antonio must evaluate each police officer applicant for his or her ability to do the essential functions of the job instead of relying on a blanket prohibition against insulin-managed diabetics.

Kapche’s experience illustrates how some employers let perception rather than reality rule their hiring decisions.

Medical technology has changed so much that it is easy to control diabetes, said John Griffin, an employment lawyer in Victoria who represented Kapche. Source: American Diabetes Association Publication date: 2002-09-04