Cancer survivors less likely to receive callbacks from potential employers

With the push to computerize health records, this could open up people to even more discrimination.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-11/ru-csl110615.php

Public Release: 6-Nov-2015
Cancer survivors less likely to receive callbacks from potential employers
Rice University

Job applicants who are cancer survivors are less likely to receive callbacks from potential retail employers than those who did not disclose their health history, according to a recent study by Rice University and Penn State University researchers.

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Applicants disclosing a cancer history received fewer callbacks from managers than the applicants who did not disclose a history of cancer. For the cancer survivor group, 21 percent received callbacks. For the control group, nearly 37 percent received callbacks, a statistically significant difference, according to the researchers.

"This is especially problematic as people with chronic and past illnesses are protected from discrimination by the Americans with Disabilities Act, and our findings indicate that cancer survivors do tend to disclose their cancer histories with interviewers at relatively high rates," said lead researcher Larry Martinez, assistant professor of hospitality management at Penn State.

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While researchers make clear that no hiring laws were broken, they found evidence of discrimination. "Despite the fact that cancer survivors are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act, we did see this difference in callbacks between them and the general public, as well as the negative interpersonal treatment they received," Martinez said.

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