Columnist: Putting mentally disabled workers at risk is no way to cut corners
March 16th, 2008From Washington Post Metro columnist Marc Fisher:
Officials at the Federal Aviation Administration used a crew of people with intellectual disabilities, working without protective gear, to demolish an outbuilding in Leesburg, Virginia, that was known to contain asbestos.
The FAA’s inspector general, federal prosecutors in Alexandria and a grand jury are now investigating whether the decision to give part of the job to people with severe disabilities was a purposeful attempt to circumvent procedures.
An agency spokeswoman said federal investigators are also assessing whether FAA managers knowingly assigned the crew to a job involving toxic materials, endangering the workers’ health.
Rich Santa, who represents the National Air Traffic Controllers Association union at the Leesburg facility, says FAA employees there determined that the mentally disabled workers were ordered to handle asbestos-laden material without any protective gear. He says an FAA worker who reported the incident to managers at the center was told to mind his own business.
… Santa said that especially because asbestos had been found at other structures on the center’s campus, managers knew better than to charge ahead with demolition.
“The idea that someone would say, ‘Have the handicapped people do it’ is very disturbing,” he said. “They just cut the grass and do the weeding. They work so hard.”
The government managers worked hard, too — at cutting corners and taking advantage of those who most need our care.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, March 16th, 2008 at 8:18 am and is filed under NOT2BEMISSED, abuse, criminal justice, disabilities, intellectual disabilities.
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