Wow, talk about discrimination. If the state employee is required to attend a convention, the agency should pay for it no matter what. In Nebraska, and Jeff Altman can update us on this, I was required to attend one convention of each organization in the state. The agency pay my way. Despite my protests that I had been a member of the other organization in my wild, misspent youth, I was required to attend the Nebraska Council of the blind convention. After attending one each, I was expected to pay my own way to whichever Organization I chose to involve myself. I was not required to go to any convention after that until it wasn?t my employer?s responsibility to pay. In Oklahoma, they graciously paid for my first convention in the state and my first national as an employee but did not require me to attend both. From now on, it is my responsibility to pay if I want to go to future conventions. As a Federationist, i have no problem with this. After all, they might have well required I attend both while they were paying. If your friends employer refuses to pay for conventions on the ground that she or he is blind and will likely attend one anyway, my advice is not to attend any. If it is required for the job, they must pay. If your friend is a Federationist, she will probably get caught at a convention and everyone will know that she chose to go. Either way, if the first convention is covered for the sighted employees, it is discrimination if they don?t cover it for all employees. If your friend wants to save face, I would recommend that she swallow hard and offer to go to both conventions at the agency?s expense rather than attend either at her own. This way the agency can prove that he is not funding us to go to our stuff. As for saving money, I would hope they wouldn?t choose this but they do have the right to refuse to send anybody anywhere. If money is that much of a problem, that might be a better decision regardless. Oklahoma is still managing to scrape up enough money to send people to one convention of each organization for the first time. Wish your friend good luck for us and will keep our fingers crossed. Jane Lansaw On Sep 7, 2018, at 7:04 AM, Lerone Walker <leronewal at msn.com> wrote: I have found that situations like this have more involved. Have the blind employees participated in a convention at any point prior, and will it be the site it employees first convention? What are employees job functions? An AT instructor may not be covered by the agency, but a vocational counselor would be sponsored by the agency. I have been with an agency requiring that staff participation was on a rotational basis. Sent from my iPhone On Sep 7, 2018, at 4:45 AM, Justin Salisbury <PRESIDENT at alumni.ecu.edu> wrote:

Colleagues,

I recently heard about a state VR agency and its plans for how to save money on a state convention. They are basically sending the sighted employees to the convention as a work activity but expecting the blind employees to pay their own way because that?s something they can reasonably be expected to be attending even if they were not employees. The agency is divided into a handful of sections, and the section where all of the blind employees work is the one not getting compensated.

Has anyone experienced this kind of thing before? What arguments worked or did not work to resolve the issue, hopefully in a peaceful and face-saving way?

Asking for a friend,

Justin

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