Disabled Worker: Employee's Duty to Disclose

Irvin B. Nathan
Attorney General for the District of Columbia

Dear Mr. Nathan:

I am a disabled American who has received disability benefits paid by the U.S. Social Security Administration since October 29, 1991 because of severe mental illness (SSA no. xxx xx xxxx). I registered with the Rehabilitation Services Administration in the year 2005 and submitted my “Ticket to Work” to RSA. I am still seeking employment. The D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed the finding of the D.C. Department of Human Rights that my last employer terminated my employment (effective October 29, 1991) lawfully because of a determination, made by the employer in consultation with a psychiatrist, that the pressures of the work environment could lead me to become violent. Freedman v. D.C. Dept. Human Rights, D.C.C.A. no. 96-CV-961 (Sept. 1, 1998). The D.C. Government determined (D.C. Corporation Counsel) that my coworkers formed genuine and credible fears in August 1989 that I might become armed and extremely dangerous. The U.S. Capitol Police (Special Agent Steven J. Horan) advised me that I am listed on a federal registry of potentially violent offenders.

I am writing to inquire whether I have a duty to disclose facts about my potential for violence to a prospective employer under the D.C. Human Rights Act or other District statutes. I understand that the Americans with Disabilities Act permits an employer to decline to hire an individual who poses a direct threat in the workplace. While my psychiatrists do not believe I pose a threat of violence at the present time, I am concerned that the pressures of the workplace could cause me to exhibit behaviors that led to violence risk determinations in the past. Do I have a duty to disclose my situation to a prospective employer?

Thank you very much for your help.

Gary Freedman
3801 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Apt. 136
Washington, DC 20008