A flight attendant for American Airlines has been hospitalized after having a panic attack and screaming over the plane’s PA system that the plane was going to crash.
Reportedly, the flight attendant has bipolar disorder, a mental illness characterized by manic states, and had been off of her medication.
In our society mental illness is highly stigmatized. According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), one in five Canadians will experience a mental illness in their lifetime. CAMH also says that only 12 percent of Canadians would hire a lawyer with a mental illness, and only 49 percent would socialize with a friend with a serious mental illness.
As a result of the flight attendant’s panic attack, many are suggesting that employers should have the right to access the medical information of an employee. How constitutional is this?
Imagine an interview where you have to disclose to your employer that you suffer from a form of mental illness. Do you trust your potential employer would hire you strictly based on qualification?
What if another person vying for the same position has no mental illness, but is a violent person who abuses alcohol? I guess this wouldn’t matter because they wouldn’t have to disclose this type of information to their employer.
Disclosing a person’s mental health condition to an employer is both discriminatory and stigmatizing.
This shit’s got to go!