Employee Survival Guide® - Nearly 60% of U.S. Has Had Covid-19 and Now Have a Disability

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, it's Mark here, and welcome to the next edition of the Employee Survival Guide, where I tell you what your employer does not want to know about, as usual, and a lot more. Today's episode, we're going to talk about a topic that nearly 60% of the U.S. population has had COVID and now has a disability. The coronavirus pandemic has been labeled a mass disabling event, where millions in the U.S. population have become infected with COVID-19 and thus considered disabled under federal, state, and local disability laws. According to the CDC data, an estimated 57% of the U.S. population has had COVID-19 or has had a COVID-19 infection as of February 2022.

Starting point is 00:00:51 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are an estimated 332 million people living in the U.S. as of January 1, 2022. There are an estimated 991 million people in the U.S. who have had COVID-19, a group I will now label as the new majority. However, the CDC reports there were only 97 million reported cases as of November 18, 2022. The number of reported cases is likely underreported due to increased vaccination rates, unreported positive home test results, The following statement is going to surprise you. Based on the above data, there are an estimated 191 million people living in the U.S. who have a disability called COVID-19. living in the U.S. who have a disability called COVID-19. The CDC has reported that 61 million adults in the U.S. live with a disability, but it is unclear if that number includes COVID-19 infections. Coincidentally, there are 140 million people in the U.S. who have never contracted COVID-19. I'm labeling this group the new minority. I suspect, and you probably intuitively agree, this number will dwindle as more people contract COVID-19 in the coming years after each new variant wave arises.

Starting point is 00:02:13 So the new minority will grow smaller. But why is this important? The new minority will have a viewpoint about public policy, business, and the law. And they'll want their voices to be heard on present issues of the day. By implication, the new minority will be non-disabled. Their viewpoint may be dramatically different than the new majority in the population already infected. Just think like mask wearers and non-mask wearers, but politically charged probably. This discourse has yet to arise to the national level, but it will. All differences in and among the U.S. population eventually assert their influence in the public debate at some point in time.

Starting point is 00:02:50 If nearly 60% of the U.S. population has a disability, then COVID-19 has also become a mass equalization event. The disease affects all races, genders, ages, nationalities. Yes, now 60% of all of you have something in common, COVID-19, and you all live with a shared experience that may transform how you think about one another. It may be difficult to dislike someone who has something in common with you. COVID-19 may just be the one event where we all look at each other equally, not clouded by some form of bias associated with skin color, sexual orientation, gender, age, nationality, political affiliation, wealth group, etc.

Starting point is 00:03:31 Now, you have probably concluded that not every case of COVID-19 renders someone disabled, and thus the term disability should not apply. I beg to differ. Certainly, we now know there are a significant number of the U.S. population that might have symptoms that last a long time after the infection, the so-called long-haul COVID-19, according to the Mayo Clinic. But to say that everyone who has recovered from COVID-19, not once but twice or even three times, does not have a disability is premature. As of this date, we have no understanding of the long-term impact of COVID-19 on the health of the population. We don't know what really causes or what can cure COVID-19. And so how can the federal government, typically the Department of Justice and the Equal

Starting point is 00:04:18 Employment Opportunity Commission, issue guidance to tell us that only those who have long COVID have a disability and those who don't have long haul don't have a disability because we don't know what COVID-19 is. You could have, let's say, cancer and remission. Are you disabled or not disabled? So, and I'll address this in a subsequent podcast on this topic of whether you have a disability or not after you recover from your infection. But back to long-haul COVID. According to the Mayo Clinic, post-COVID-19 syndrome involves a variety of new, returning, and ongoing symptoms that people experience more than four weeks after getting COVID-19. And some people, post-COVID-19 syndrome lasts months or years and causes disability. The most commonly reported symptoms of post-COVID-19 syndrome include the following.

Starting point is 00:05:13 Fatigue, symptoms that get worse after physical and mental effort, fever, lung, respiratory symptoms, including difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, and cough. Other possible symptoms include neurological symptoms or mental health conditions, including difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, and cough. Other possible symptoms include neurological symptoms or mental health conditions, including difficulty thinking or concentrating, headache, sleep problems, dizziness when you stand, pins and needles feeling, loss of smell or taste, depression or anxiety. And I'll insert here, depression and anxiety related to the whole situation of the lockdowns and dealing with COVID and its initial outbreak. I mean, the entire population probably has this. And to say that they're not disabled because they have these conditions that are mental nervous, meaning they're having PTSD related to lockdowns, et cetera, has really become asinine to They say that they're not disabled, but that's the position of the government,

Starting point is 00:06:07 which I'll address in a separate podcast. Other symptoms include joint and muscle pain, heart symptoms and conditions, including chest pain and fast-pounding heartbeat, digestive symptoms, including diarrhea and stomach pain. That sounds awful. Here's a good one. Blood clot and blood vessel, vascular issues, including a blood clot that travels to the lungs from deep veins in the legs and blocks blood flow to the lungs. Also called a pulmonary embolism.

Starting point is 00:06:34 Not fun, folks. Other symptoms such as a rash and changes in the menstrual cycle for women. I would argue these post-COVID-19 syndrome symptoms constitute a physical disability, and in some cases, a comorbid mental disability, as I discussed earlier, protected by the federal, state, and local disability laws. Nearly 60% of the U.S. population is now disabled and protected against disability discrimination in employment. Post-COVID-19 syndrome symptoms qualify under the Americans with Disabilities Act because COVID-19 adversely and substantially limits one or more major life activities.

Starting point is 00:07:11 In addition, every person who has had COVID-19 now has a history or a record of impairment and may be perceived by others as having the impairment, i.e., for example, employees who suffer from long-haul COVID-19 fatigue and cognitive issues which impair their ability to work. If you have had or had COVID-19, you are protected against disability discrimination. And you can also request reasonable accommodations at work. Do not hesitate to use your newly protected status as a shield to protect yourself from your employer's unlawful and discriminatory conduct while working and seeking reasonable accommodations, such as remote working and flexible work schedules. But you can also use your disability as a sword in the event you are being laid off or terminated from your employment.

Starting point is 00:07:57 All you need to do is spell out the factual narrative regarding how your COVID-19 illness adversely affected your ability to do your job and led to your termination. Specifically, you should assert your COVID-19 disability and resulting discrimination in your severance negotiation with your employer. Now, getting back to the issue of whether 60% of the population has a disability, the federal government right today says you do not if you don't have long-term COVID symptoms. So long-haul COVID, long-haul COVID-19 syndrome. And I'm going to assert that when I issued the article that which this podcast is based on, there was a law professor at Yale University, which I won't name, who basically canceled or unsubscribed to me. And I noticed it not because – I mean people unsubscribe all the time, of course.

Starting point is 00:08:53 But the individual in question was a recognizable name. And that person was also part of the Biden administration's lead counsel, one of the team during the Biden's early days of COVID-19. And I looked her up. Sorry. Now you know the pronoun. And I was astounded that I was canceled. And I didn't really – well, I'll follow up with her and I'll do some research and I'll ask her the question of why. But I suspect that it's because of this, that the people who recover from COVID-19, and I'll say now, because you probably

Starting point is 00:09:34 have found out listening to me on the podcast that I sound like I have a head cold because I'm recovering right now from COVID-19. When I wrote the article, I didn't have it. That was a Friday. By Sunday, I was diagnosed positive test result. So I sit here today recovering from COVID-19. And according to this law professor, and according to the federal government, and specifically the Department of Justice, and their guidelines, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and their guidelines, I don't have long-term COVID yet. Yet. Well, I took my Paxil a bit. That sort of prevents the long haul effect, we hope. But folks, we don't really know what causes and how COVID works because it's still going on. I'm fully boosted. I'll admit that too. Yeah, I even got my flu shot. So get your flu shot because that's going around.

Starting point is 00:10:28 So the issue is, do I have a disability sitting here today recovering from COVID? Well, yes, because I have COVID symptoms. But when I recover and I start to test negative, whenever that's going to happen, at that point, I no longer have a disability. I mean, I have a disability in this respect, and this is my opinion, pretty strong one. What if I have PTSD because COVID affects my heart and causes me to have a heart attack in six months' time, even though I don't have symptoms of long-haul COVID. That heart attack and recovery they're from, it then becomes what, long-haul? Well, the government doesn't know enough.

Starting point is 00:11:12 And for us to go out and to say that, well, just because you don't have long-term, long-haul COVID, you don't have a disability, is so effing premature that they should be ashamed for themselves. premature, that they should be ashamed for themselves. But what they're trying to do is essentially to put a placeholder on people for purposes of insurance, for purposes of employment, for purposes of trying to be more certain on something that's so uncertain in a lifetime. We have a pandemic. It hasn't gone away, folks. So I'm obviously upset by this issue. I don't like the idea that I'm not covered for disability just because I don't have long-haul COVID. And I'm going to do a follow-up for this podcast, of course. Obviously, I'm pissed.

Starting point is 00:11:58 And I want you all to understand this. And don't just be smoothed over by the fact that people tell you, well, just because you don't have long-haul COVID and you feel fine, I'm going to say something to you. Are you really sure? Do you really, really know whether you don't have a disability or not? It's just because you feel fine. And then one day, all of a sudden, you're just deathly ill again. That's the problem. And that's the issue I'm trying to address with you it's not over folks it makes you feel comfortable to say well it's over it's an epidemic etc don't need to wear a mask

Starting point is 00:12:33 it's not political the issue is folks there's a disability that's ongoing and you need to assert that if you're having problems with your employment and you can make the argument because no one's going to sit there and look you in the eyes and saying you don't have a disability after you recovered from COVID. That's the point. It's something unusual that has happened.

Starting point is 00:12:55 And it's like if you had your booster shot and it's equivalent to getting eyeglasses. Well, eyeglasses for a pilot are an accommodation that's made, but he still has his disability. So the law has changed in that respect. There's Supreme Court cases about this issue about eyeglasses and airline pilots. So I got my booster. I still have COVID or I recovered from COVID. I can get it again.

Starting point is 00:13:21 So my point is, and I sound like I'm sick because I'm sick. I still have COVID and I'll have COVID and I'll have a disability, a physical disability affecting my respiratory, affecting mental status if I'm scared of getting deathly ill again. Who knows what's going to happen to us? Not trying to throw fear into the wind here to scare the crap out of you, but the reality is real. There's a unique circumstance with COVID that is you have a disability. Whether you recovered or not, if you did not recover in the long haul, that's obvious. But if you don't have long haul, you still have a physical disability. don't have long haul, you still have a physical disability. That's the point. And you can use that to your advantage. That's the point of this, what I'm trying to get across to you.

Starting point is 00:14:12 Now, you're not going to hear this in mainstream. You're not going to hear this from the, read it in the press. I did read it in a left-wing nonprofit that was supported by Google and Amazon who made donations to it because I checked this morning. So they said it in there, and that's the basis of the next podcast article that I'll write probably tomorrow. So I wanted to share that with you. It's critically important. You're not going to hear it mainstream, but it's real. If you've had COVID and fortunately don't have long haul, you still have a disability under state and federal law. And when you use it, assert it because it's real. And no one's there to doubt that you don't have it because we all don't know. It's still three years into this process. And it's going

Starting point is 00:15:00 to be four or five years. So I'll leave you with that. Look for the next podcast about the same subject. And I'll get further in depth. Eyes wide open, folks. Like I said, I tell you what your employer does not want you to know about and a lot more. This was one of those a lot more podcasts. Thank you for listening as always. I'm here to do the hard work and heavy lifting for you. I'll talk to you next time.

Starting point is 00:15:23 Take care.

Employee Survival Guide® - Nearly 60% of U.S. Has Had Covid-19 and Now Have a Disability

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