I'm saddened to read of Ann Marie's plight and the
ignorance of her institution.  The question begs
itself, what were the essential duties of her
position.  That is key to the EEOC guidelines on this
and, if driving at the boss's whim was not an
essential function, she was truly aggrieved EXCEPT if
the institution is so small that it didn't come under
the purview of the ADA.  

If it's not an essential function of her position and
it did fall within the protections of the ADA, she has
cause for filing a grievance with the EEOC assuming
she attempted to exhaust administrative remedy and the
clock on the statute of limitations has not expired in
her case. See http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/ada17.html for
more on the essential functions issue. 

Should Ann Marie choose to go that route, be warned
that the process is slow, and the deadlines
unforgiving.  It's probably best to have counsel from
an employment law attorney (see http://www.nela.org ).
 The employer should be advised that it can be held
liable by virtue of vicarious liability if it is aware
of such discrimination and does nothing to stop it.  A
few years ago, I put up a synopsis of one of the
rulings in this regard on one of my websites: 
http://victorian.fortunecity.com/stanmer/414/law/liability1.html
 You can also find other employment law issues on my
employment website in the Topics section
http://victorian.fortunecity.com/stanmer/414/ though
admittedly many of the links have grown old and are
long overdue to be updated.

Now, as for Valerie and David's contention that you
don't have to be disabled to be a mentor, you're
absolutely correct.  You don't.  

However, in this particular case, I think the request
had to do as much with inspiration and mentoring. 
Sometimes, seeing someone like you succeed is often
very powerful reinforcement of a dream that may
otherwise seem out of reach.  As a woman, watching
another shatter the glass ceiling is often enough to
keep me believing that there may be parity and justice
in this world (we're still about 25 cents behind the
guys on the dollar, and it seems that boys are now
outnumbering girls in terms of births).

I was simply passing along a request from a friend and
giving the dimensions thereto as forwarded.  However,
if folks who are TABs (Temporarily Able Bodieds--for
bodies where out and the parts don't work as they did
when it left the factory) want to mentor folks with
disabilities, so much the better.  It helps when you
let them mentor you when you design exhibits so that
you can best accommodate them.



--- Valerie Davis <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Seems to me a person does not necessarily have to
> have a disability in order to be an effective mentor
> to a person with disabilities who wants to enter the
> museum field.  I think any person with a background
> in human resources, and/or a fair amount of
> compassion/empathy and is currently working in the
> museum field could be a good mentor.  I don't know
> of any disabled people working in the museum field
> but when I posed the question of how many people in
> our discussion group have an expertise in working
> with people with disabilites and have a museum
> background I and one other person were the only ones
> who responded.  My background is in Occupational
> Therapy and museums but that duo-experience does not
> seem to be highly appreciated or sought after in our
> current museum work field even though assessibility
> issues and the creation of multi-sensory
> exhibits/programs are a matter a great concern to us
> all.  I wonder why that is?
> Valerie Davis 
> Oconomowoc and Lake Country Museum
> Oconomowoc, WI
> [log in to unmask]


Indigo Nights
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