www.incontinentsupport.org

Hey all. I have severe bladder and bowel incon. My stools are liquid which is very caustic to the skin. I take Devrom for odor and wear Molicare super plus diapers, Gary PUL pants, and an Abena bodysuit under my work uniform. I work logistics for a major medical center in N. Carolina. My immediate supervisor knows of my incon and knows I wear diapers. But he is less than understanding when I have to drop everything and change because I inadvertently soiled myself. I'm sorry but diarrhea bowel incon necessitates an immediate change or I could leak...or someone who doesn't know of my incon could smell me and I could be outed. My supervisor gave me a task the other day for example and in the middle of that task I soiled myself and had to change. I dropped everything and changed. My supervisor was less than pleased and informed me that he gave me a task and since I failed to do it, someone else picked up my slack. I told him I had to go to the bathroom. I don't know what to do. It's hard to get people to understand just what it is we incontinent folk go through. I try to keep balance with skin breakdown and work commitments. Any ideas?

Go talk to HR and ask them what to do. They will give you the best answer to your specific employer. You can also let them know that your supervisor is giving you a hard time and he knows about your medical condition but is not being reasonably accommodating with your situation. He by law is not required to by the ADA since they don't consider incontinence as a disability.

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When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.

Seattle Doug, I have long personal and professional experience in the disability field, worked to advocate for the passage of various laws and was being paid to train employers and others in the ADA and other relevant laws at the time the ADA first came into effect. However, I am not a lawyer. Who is "they" that you are referring to who claim incontinence is not a disability and is not required to be accommodated? The law does not have a list of specific conditions that are eligible and specific conditions that are not. The definitions of disability and definition of what is reasonable were intentionally written very broadly because every person with a disability is different and every employer is different. The three prongs of the disability definition are 1) has an impairment of a major life activity or a major bodily function. 2) has a record of such an impairment (to address possible discrimination based on past rather than current medical history) 3) is regarded as having such an impairment (to address possible discrimination based on something that may appear disabling but is not such as a disfiguring injury, or huge concern in the 1990s, family members of HIV positive people by association alone or sometimes still, family members who will not get hired because of concern that spouses or children on family insurance will drive up rates or something)

Because of court decisions that eroded original Congressional intent in 1990, in 2008, the ADA was amended to clarify (not expand) the protections. This is when "major bodily function" was included under the definition of major life activity. Examples are given, including bowel and bladder function! Is everybody with any degree of incontinence disabled? Probably not, but from what I recall of Don's situation, he has full bladder and bowel incon which is chronic and probably permanent, he's rated by the VA for disability based on that and other disabling conditions and he gets his supplies from the VA on that basis. Why would that not qualify? He has already disclosed. Any private employer with 15 or more employees needs to comply. Similar state and local laws may set lower numbers, but I assume a hospital has a huge number of employees, and as such, the expectation of what constitutes reasonable accommodation is generally much higher than some mom and pop employer. If the hospital receives even one dollar of federal funds or contracts with anyone who does-- and I assume any hospital takes Medicare and military insurance and probably Medicaid, it would also be in violation of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which predated the ADA. I mean we're talking 23 and 40 year old laws! I hope this is not a VA hospital, which would be even more egregious.

Don, speak to your supervisor and HR. Be very clear on what you need and that you are requesting accommodation under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. (Section 503/504) If you need further help, PM me with your county and state and I can probably put you in touch with local resources that can help you further.

Here's the full text of the ADA as amended.
http://www.access-board.gov/about/laws/ADA.htm