ReadeRsdigest.co.in 41the current vice president of the Cana-
dian Hearing Society, one of the chal-
lenges faced by people with disabilities
in the workplace is a lack of awareness.
“Racism, sexism and ageism are all fa-
miliar terms. Not nearly as well-known
is the term ‘ableism,’” he says. That gap
in awareness has consequences: Three
years ago, the Canadian Human Rights
Commission reported that between
2009 and 2013, nearly half of all the
41,728 human rights complaints were
filed on the ground of disability. In In-
dia, the Office of Chief Commissioner
for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD)
functions as an accessible platform for
the redressal of issues put forward by
people with disabilities. According to
the First Country Report on the Status
of Disability in India by the Ministry of
Social Justice and Empowerment,
Government of India, during
2013, the CCPD received 25,991
complaints, including those in the
mobile courts. Out of them, 24,875
have been disposed of and 1,116 are
under process. Between 2012 and 2015,
CCPD’s office alone received 4,493
cases, out of which 3,937 have been
disposed of.
However, challenging discrimina-
tory attitudes is not something that
can necessarily be done alone. “It
may be more effective to seek legal
redress, go through HR departments,
contact an advocacy group for refer-
ral and assistance, or seek support
from a legal community clinic or a
Human Rights Legal Support Centre,”
suggests Malkowski.
In Kelly Groh’s case, his experience
eventually led him to file a case with
the Human Rights Tribunal, where he
testified that his coordinator wouldn’t
allow him to take a washroom break
during their conflict and felt that he
was blocked from leaving his office.
Given his disability, he believed the
treatment wasn’t right—and after a le-
gal process that lasted five years, the
tribunal agreed. Groh was awarded
compensation, but more importantly,
his employer voluntarily began educat-
ing staff about his disability to avoid
similar situations in the future. “In the
long term, everyone will benefit,” says
Groh. “I want organizations to realize
that people like me have something
to offer.”Better LivingEXPLORE WAYS
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