Disability Discrimination Was Still Alive and Well in the Noughties

Day 19: The subtle art of discrimination​

Photo Credit: Grant Parsons

An opportunity to move my career as a librarian sideways became available. An arrangement was worked out, and I was seconded to the school until the position could be advertised.
I filled in my staff form on my first day, noting CF in the medical section. After a week or so, one of my colleagues commented on my coughing, and I casually told her I had CF.
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It sparked a drama.

Mama Bear was Furious!
There was a child with CF at the school, and his mother followed the CF social distancing guidelines to the letter. Mama Bear wanted me removed from the school immediately. The Principal was a man with little backbone, known to the staff as the Parent’s Principal because he tended to shove his staff under a bus to please parents.
Mama Bear and the Parent’s Principal banded together.
They wanted me gone.
Disability legislation protected my job. Because I’d been upfront and included CF on my medical form, it became my legal protection.

To stay, or not to stay
After four months, the permanent position was advertised. Despite the drama, I enjoyed the job, so I applied. A week after my panel interview, I was informed that no one was suitable for the position, and it was to be readvertised.
In my previous role, I’d often sat on school panels, selecting people for the same position I had applied for. I had never heard of multiple applicants making it to an interview without a job appointment.

Something smelt fishy
I was qualified and experienced, so what was lacking in my application? I needed to know. So when the Parent’s Principal offered me feedback, and I took the appointment.
The Parent’s Principal pointed out some minor things in my written application that could be improved. None of these points was a deal-breaker.
Instead, the deal-breaker was saved for last.
“Your reference,” the Parent’s Principal said. “It was a wonderful reference. You couldn’t have asked for a better reference, except you see, the Head of Curriculum isn’t school-based. And that’s why we can’t give you the job.”

To recap — my glowing reference came from someone much higher on the food chain than the Parent’s Principal, but he couldn’t accept it because it didn’t come from someone based in a school. On this basis, I didn’t qualify for the job.

Something stank.
I wanted the job on my own merits
Should I put in a disability discrimination case or reapply for the job and see what happened the second time? I was in two minds. Many of my work colleagues advised me to put in discrimination papers.
Ultimately, I wanted the job on my merits without anyone later claiming I only got the job because I claimed foul.
I reapplied for the job. On the day of my interview, I discovered the Parent’s Principal was not on the interview panel. Instead, another Principal had been brought in to conduct the interviews.
I won the job outright.
Later, someone from the original panel told me they had kept notes in case I complained about the discrimination. I suspect the Parent’s Principal had been removed from the second panel, but I don’t have solid confirmation.

I’ve never quite gotten used to this subtle form of discrimination. It walks, smells, and quacks like a duck —yet plausible deniability remains.
I much prefer the bluntness of the late 80s and early 90s.

31 Days of Cystic Fibrosis Bonus Fact
I won two awards, one and one parent nominated, while based at that school — not too foul for someone who “failed” the first interview.

Next in the 31 Days of Cystic Fibrosis series - One Winter Saw My Lung Function Plummet in Freefall

​During winter, I dropped to a lung function of 30%, and by the end of the year, I managed to raise it to 45%. You don’t need to be good at math to realize these numbers aren’t great.

31 Days of Cystic Fibrosis is an awareness-raising campaign to coincide with
the national Cystic Fibrosis (CF) awareness month in Australia.
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​If you’ve just joined the journey and want to start at the beginning, you’ll find the first post here: Your Daughter Has Cystic Fibrosis