Josefina Hernandez Vs. Walgreens

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In the case of the cashier, Josefina Hernandez, vs. Walgreens, it was determined by a judge that Walgreens violated Americans with Disabilities Act, which protects those with disabilities from discrimination and provides them with equal opportunities. I am a Type 1 Diabetic. I have had it for 40 years and I have no diabetic complications. I don’t think of myself as disabled but once in a while I do get low blood sugar, I also forget to take a shot once in a blue moon and get high blood sugar; have you ever forgotten to take your birth control pill? Sometimes I clean house like a madwoman and I get a low blood sugar, sometimes I am at work and we are moving files or I am just being more active than normal and I get low; same with Josefina. She …show more content…

1. Walgreens had an anti-grazing rule to prevent workers from taking things and then paying later. She knew the policy. 2. The EEOC filed the suit on her behalf. Was it because this happened in 2008 and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 ("Amendments Act" or "ADAAA") was being worked on and passed on Jan 1, 2009? (EEOC.gov) Discrimination against someone with Diabetes would have been a hot button issue and Walgreens was a large, well-known company. This issue would have been very visible. 3. Josephina worked at Walgreens for 18 years and was diagnosed as a Diabetic thirteen years earlier. She informed the company at that time. “Sometimes, the decision to disclose depends on whether an individual will need a reasonable accommodation to perform the job (for example, breaks to take medication or a place to rest until blood sugar levels become normal).”(EEOC.gov) During the years after diagnosis, Hernandez was allowed to keep candy nearby in case of low blood sugar, keep her insulin in the break room refrigerator and take additional breaks to test her blood sugar or eat because of her diabetes. (Gould, T.) This shows that her managers were aware of her diabetes and had made the right accommodations for …show more content…

Was she grazing? Yes. If she had been eating her own food, they would not have fired her. I do not see this issue as black and white, I see this situation as a very gray area. The manager should have been more sympathetic to the low-blood sugar. He could have reminded her that they have accommodations in place to help her and that she should call for help. He should also have stated the no grazing policy again, and stated if she took any store products in the future she would face counseling and disciplinary action. As a diabetic, I, nor the other 32 million diabetics in America, could not run into a store, eat food off a shelf, and pay for it hours later, just because I had low blood

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