…Unfortunately, Aspies’ deficits often receive more attention than their strengths, sometimes leading co-workers and bosses to criticize and mock them.
In 2008, Aspie Thomas Mangano, former director of manufacturing for Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Verity Inc., sued the software firm and his manager, Steven Springsteel, alleging disability discrimination and “verbal harassment” after enduring several months of Springsteel calling him “Rain Man” in front of his co-workers.
He had also been passed over for a promotion. In both instances, Verity prevailed – in part, because Mangano had not yet been diagnosed with Asperger’s when Springsteel was taunting him or when he failed to get the promotion.
Such cases fall into a legal gray area, according to Vianei Lopez Robinson, partner in the Houston law firm of Buck Keenan, where she practices employment law.
Although Mangano had not yet learned of his disability himself, it could be argued that Springsteel could tell something was different about him. In that regard, his case could fall under what Robinson calls a “prong” in the Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA] that protects employees who are “regarded as” being disabled, even if they have not disclosed that fact to their employer.
“If an employer thinks an employee is disabled and discriminates against [him or her] based on that perception, that is still a violation,” Robinson says. “If someone has Asperger’s, but has never disclosed it and gets terminated, that may be a termination in the normal course of business, or they may have a disabilities claim for having been regarded as disabled. That is going to depend on the circumstances of each case.”
In Mangano’s case, Verity’s attorney successfully argued that the company had legitimate business reasons for hiring a vice president from outside the company.
Across the legal community, opinions vary with regard to whether Asperger’s even qualifies as a disability under the ADA. Robinson says that’s because it can be argued that Aspies are not substantially impaired in a major life activity.
That said, she recommends that companies treat Aspies – and anyone they might suspect of being an Aspie – as if the condition is covered by the ADA. As with other mental handicaps, employers frequently need to make reasonable accommodations to help Aspies succeed in the workplace.
“They need to engage in an interactive process with the employee, see what their limitations are, and determine what accommodations make the most sense,” says Robinson…