????在沃爾瑪公司（Wal-Mart）效力多年的一名叉車司機接受癌癥手術治療回到公司后就遭到了解雇。為此，沃爾瑪公司支付了27.5萬美元的和解費用。家得寶公司（Home Depot）也為類似的一個案例支付了10萬美元的和解費用。此前，這家公司解雇了一名正在接受治療的癌癥員工，后者為這家公司服務了13年。同樣因為癌癥被解雇的還有一位學校社工和一位臨床服務主任。

????近年來，美國公平就業機會委員會（Equal Employment Opportunity Commission，簡稱：EEOC）受理的涉癌投訴案件迅速上升，增速高于大多數其他類別的就業歧視投訴案件。2003-2013財年期間，癌癥歧視投訴案件（由公司在職員工或者前雇員提交的初始報告）數量增長了120%，2013財年多達974起。美國公平就業機會委員會的數據顯示，依據《美國殘疾人法案》（Americans with Disabilities Act，簡稱：ADA）提起的投訴案件數量總體增長了72%。

????美國公平就業機會委員會下屬美國殘疾人法案部門的高級律師和顧問莎朗?雷納特說，癌癥歧視投訴案件數量上升之所以這么快，一部分原因在于國會2009年通過了《美國殘疾人法案》修正案，擴大了法案的涵蓋范圍。此前，人們對這項法案是否涵蓋了所有類型的癌癥還存在疑問。

????雷納特說，另一個原因是，雇主們沒有為一線主管提供相關培訓，導致這些主管不知道員工身患癌癥或者其他重病時應該如何處理。他們也許還沒有意識到，一旦員工宣布得了癌癥，他就應得到《美國殘疾人法案》的法律保護及相關援助。

????“每隔幾年，新一批的主管和經理可能就會上任，就需要重新安排相關培訓，”她說。“而很多情況下，用人單位都會畫一條黑色警戒線。”經理們已經形成了一種膝跳反應一般的條件反射，下意識地認為，員工一旦享受完了《家庭與醫療休假法案》（Family and Medical Leave Act）規定的12周無薪假期，就必須返回工作崗位。“你已經用完了法定假期，該結束了。”他們就是這樣想的。實際上，雷納特說：“應該對《美國殘疾人法案》的合理調適義務條款進行評估。”

????適度調整是一個具有彈性空間、沒有作出具體定義的概念，根據雇員的自身情況和雇主擁有的資源情況會有所不同。它可能意味著，雇員可以在家里兼職，或者是享有更頻繁的休息安排，亦或執行兼職工作時間表。雷納特說，有時（法定假期用完之后）額外多休幾周的假期也可以算作適度調整；但有時，它在一家小型公司可能意味著會給同事和公司造成沉重的負擔。

????用人單位可以查看員工的病歷檔案，還需要在員工的癌癥護理一欄準確填寫未來的安排。

????醫療機構在這方面同樣也會出問題。此前，幾家醫療保健機構和醫院也因為解雇確診罹患癌癥的員工和美國公平就業機會委員會達成了和解。（財富中文網）

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????Wal-Mart (WMT) paid $275,000 in a settlement after firing a long-time forklift driver after he had returned from cancer surgery. Home Depot (HD) paid $100,000 to settle a similar case where a 13-year employee was let go during treatments. A school social worker and a director of clinical services also were fired for cancer disability.

????The number of cancer-related complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has soared in recent years, growing faster than most charges. Cancer complaints, the initial report filed by a worker or ex-employee, rose 120% between fiscal years 2003 and 2013, when the number of complaints hit 974. ADA disability charges overall grew 72%, according to EEOC data.

????Part of the uptick has to do with the fact that Congress expanded what the Americans with Disabilities Act covers as of 2009. Before that, there were questions over whether all kinds of cancers were covered, said Sharon Rennert, a senior attorney and advisor at the EEOC's Americans with Disabilities Act division.

????Another reason for the gains: Employers are not training front-line supervisors on how they should manage a staff member with cancer or other serious diseases, said Rennert. They may not realize that as soon as the employee announces he has cancer, he's covered by the ADA's provisions and assistance.

????"Every few years, you've probably got a new group of supervisors and managers. You need to repeat the training," she said. "Too often, employers draw a kind of black line," said Rennert. The manager has a knee-jerk reaction, assuming that once their 12 weeks of Family and Medical Leave Act unpaid time off are over, they must head back to work. "You've gotten your FMLA leave; you're done," is their thinking. In reality, "the ADA reasonable accommodation has to be assessed," she said.

????Reasonable accommodation is a squishy, undefined notion that varies based on the worker and employer's situations and resources. It could mean that the employee is eligible to do part-time work from home, or more frequent breaks, or a part-time schedule. Sometimes, an extra few weeks' leave (after the FMLA time is used up) would qualify as reasonable accommodation; other times, at a small company, it might be too much of a hardship on the coworkers and the company, Rennert said.

????Employers are allowed to ask for medical documentation and need to "fill in an accurate picture of what's ahead" in a worker's cancer care.

????Yet even medical centers don't get it right. Several health care and hospitals settled with the EEOC over discharging their own workers who were diagnosed cancer.