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Two players currently suspended by the NFL, middle linebacker Odell Thurman of the Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Bucs cornerback Torrie Cox, have filed discrimination claims with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in an attempt to have their respective league sanctions overturned.
The lawsuits were filed with the EEOC under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Essentially, the players are contending that they have been viewed as alcoholics in the eyes of the NFL, and that perception is the basis for the punitive actions that were imposed by commissioner Roger Goodell. The players were suspended for repeat violations of the NFL substance abuse policy.
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits employers from discriminating against workers with disabilities. Representatives for the players contend in the separate lawsuits that alcoholism is a disability.
Both suits cite the case of former NBA player Roy Tarpley, the onetime Dallas Mavericks' forward who was suspended in 1995. The EEOC ruled that NBA violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it did not reinstate Tarpley even though he apparently passed drug screenings for four straight years.
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Re: Bengals' Thurman, Bucs' Cox file discrimination claims against NFL
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaBruinz
I thought that alcoholism is a disease, not a disability...
Damn, those two are bad...
It's actually not even a disease. Back when it was turned over as a "disease" the primary reason wasn't because the data showed that it was a disease, but that the people couldn't pay for the treatment of it. So once it was labeled as a disease other third party payers would pay for it (such as insurance and public aid) to get the people the help they needed.
__________________
"A lie can be the truth, the truth just in disguise"
Re: Bengals' Thurman, Bucs' Cox file discrimination claims against NFL
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaBruinz
I thought that alcoholism is a disease, not a disability...
If you ask me, which you didn't , it's neither. It's a compulsion, like gambling or lying. As far as I'm concerned, any "disease" in which a person has to actively and willingly participate in order to suffer from it isn't a disease at all. People don't have to do anything to make cancer eat away at their body, but they do have to choose to lift that drink arm repeatedly.
And these two claim they have a disability? Please. Get help, fellas, but take your league-mandated medicine.
Re: Bengals' Thurman, Bucs' Cox file discrimination claims against NFL
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fixit
If you ask me, which you didn't , it's neither. It's a compulsion, like gambling or lying. As far as I'm concerned, any "disease" in which a person has to actively and willingly participate in order to suffer from it isn't a disease at all. People don't have to do anything to make cancer eat away at their body, but they do have to choose to lift that drink arm repeatedly.
And these two claim they have a disability? Please. Get help, fellas, but take your league-mandated medicine.
I hate the world.
What does the cause have to do with it being a disease? If it causes a physical change in the body or brain that leads to health consequences, it's a disease. If you smoke, you can get lung cancer, but lung cancer's a disease despite your active and willing participation, likewise for drinking and cirrhosis of the liver, or overeating and heart disease. Now as a society we might choose to treat self-inflicted diseases differently, but don't muddy up what's a medical term. The fact that heavy alcoholics can actually die from suddenly discontinuing drinking (delirium tremens) hints at alcohol's ability to make physical changes to the body.
But even if alcohol is a disease or disability, being not drunk is a bona-fide job requirement for most places, doubly so when your job involves being hit, and bona-fide job requirements aren't covered by the ADA (for example, you can't be forced to hire a wheelchair bound firefighter).
Re: Bengals' Thurman, Bucs' Cox file discrimination claims against NFL
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pujo
What does the cause have to do with it being a disease? If it causes a physical change in the body or brain that leads to health consequences, it's a disease. If you smoke, you can get lung cancer, but lung cancer's a disease despite your active and willing participation, likewise for drinking and cirrhosis of the liver, or overeating and heart disease. Now as a society we might choose to treat self-inflicted diseases differently, but don't muddy up what's a medical term. The fact that heavy alcoholics can actually die from suddenly discontinuing drinking (delirium tremens) hints at alcohol's ability to make physical changes to the body.
But even if alcohol is a disease or disability, being not drunk is a bona-fide job requirement for most places, doubly so when your job involves being hit, and bona-fide job requirements aren't covered by the ADA (for example, you can't be forced to hire a wheelchair bound firefighter).
There's a big difference. Lung cancer is the disease, smoking is the habit. Calling smoking a disease because of a potential consequence is a little disingenuous.
Re: Bengals' Thurman, Bucs' Cox file discrimination claims against NFL
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pujo
What does the cause have to do with it being a disease? If it causes a physical change in the body or brain that leads to health consequences, it's a disease. If you smoke, you can get lung cancer, but lung cancer's a disease despite your active and willing participation, likewise for drinking and cirrhosis of the liver, or overeating and heart disease. Now as a society we might choose to treat self-inflicted diseases differently, but don't muddy up what's a medical term. The fact that heavy alcoholics can actually die from suddenly discontinuing drinking (delirium tremens) hints at alcohol's ability to make physical changes to the body.
The physical changes to the body are a result of the behavior. Excessive drinking can certainly lead to many diseases, but that doesn't mean that alcoholism itself is a disease. Is smoking a disease? Or overeating? Or dipping tobacco? Or shooting heroin? Or working in a coal mine? Or engaging in lots of unprotected sex? All of those behaviors can lead to disease, but that doesn't mean that the choices a person makes are. If Thurman felt that he got suspended because of his jaundiced skin that resulted from cirrhosis, he might have a case. But the alcoholism? Behavior, not disease.
Bengals' Thurman, Bucs' Cox file discrimination claims against NFL
, it's neither. It's a compulsion, like gambling or lying. As far as I'm concerned, any "disease" in which a person has to actively and willingly participate in order to suffer from it isn't a disease at all. People don't have to do anything to make cancer eat away at their body, but they do have to choose to lift that drink arm repeatedly. 
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