In the latest in a series of articles on diabetes, The New York Times on December 26 described workplace challenges faced by employees with diabetes. The article recounts stories of several workers who have lost jobs or been forced to take lower-paying jobs because of the disease, even though their diabetes was under control.          

The irony is that employers sometimes make two claims:
1. that the disease has made an employee unfit to hold a job.
2. that diabetes cannot be considered a disability, and is thus not
covered by the legal protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

Recent cases include a musician rejected for a cruise ship’s cabaret band, baggage handlers fired by an airline, a truck mechanic let go by a shipping company, and a department store lingerie saleswoman who was awarded $150,000 in damages for what the court said was disability discrimination. 

To read this and other recent New York Times articles about diabetes, go online to: www.nytimes.com/diabetes.