That phrase pisses me off so much it's not even funny. It's explained pretty well on costco's website with this report:
http://content.costco.com/Images/Content/misc/PDF/2010-Consolidated-EEO-1-Report.pdf
"Equal Employment Opportunity" is a lie. If you look at that report, it is only concerned with gender and race. These factors are important, sure, but they all leave one thing out of what is otherwise "equal". What about the number of people they hire who have disabilities? I've seen a few applications in the last couple of days that state that the company doesn't discriminate based on gender, race, religion, disability, or any factor protected by law. If you really don't discriminate based on disability, why is it so damn tough for those of us with disabilities to find work? If opportunity was truly equal, companies like costco would not only advertise the fact that they hire people with disabilities, but they'd be proud of it. I'm not asking to be hired on the sole basis of my disability, I have valuable skills, but I'm asking that my disability should not be the reason I lose a job opportunity. The law says that's not allowed, but all these companies have to do to cover their ass is find another reason not to hire someone like me. In my case it might be lack of experience or something else, but obviously they won't blatantly tell me that they don't want to hire someone with a disability. Doing that is essentially like saying "go ahead, sue us, we already wrote out the check." They won't tell me they refuse to hire me because of my disability, but it seems to be what they mean.
Where is the happy medium? Disability shouldn't be the reason to deny someone a job, but it shouldn't be the sole reason we get hired either. It's even uncomfortable to bring it to an employer's attention. We never know how they'll react, especially those of us whose disabilities aren't quite as visible. I know I've hidden my CP from people for a while before they asked me about it. What if that happens on the job? Would I get fired because I didn't disclose it right away?
More disability-related confusion, awesome...
Somebody give me a shot and make me realize Equal Employment Opportunity is truly equal, it doesn't seem so right now.
