Disabled workers have faced prejudice. Now they face DOGE firings

WASHINGTON — Spencer Goidel, a 33-year-old federal worker in Boca Raton, Florida, with autism, knew what he could be losing when he got laid off from his job as an equal employment opportunity specialist at the IRS.

Because of his autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, Goidel had been able to secure his spot as one of more than 500,000 disabled workers in the federal government under Schedule A, which allows federal agencies to bypass the traditional hiring process and pick a qualified candidate from a pool of people with certain disabilities.

His job, he said, was accommodating and enriching, and he wonders if he'll ever get another one like that in the private sector.

''A lot of people who are disabled, they came to the federal government because it was a model employer for disabled individuals, and now they have nowhere else to go,'' he told The Associated Press.

The irony, he says, is that his job was to help resolve workers' harassment claims before they escalated into full-blown lawsuits against the government. So much for reducing waste, he says.

A model employer for disabled workers

For decades, the federal government has positioned itself as being committed to inclusive hiring and long-term retention across agencies. But as mass layoffs ripple through the federal workforce under President Donald Trump's Republican administration, disabled employees are among those being let go.

Amid the firings, rollbacks of accommodation guidance for businesses and skepticism of disability inclusion practices, advocates and experts wonder if the government's status as a ''model employer'' will hold true.

Trump has said he ended diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the government because people should be hired based on work quality and merit alone.

However, under Schedule A, candidates already have to be qualified for the position with or without an accommodation. They don't get a job solely because they have a disability.

Disability advocates point to a slew of statements from Trump administration officials that indicate they view disabled workers as a liability to the government.

Trump criticized the federal government's inclusion efforts in January when a midair collision between a plane and a helicopter near Reagan National Airport killed 67 people. Without evidence, he blamed the Federal Aviation Administration's targeted hiring of people with disabilities for the crash, saying that only ''psychologically superior'' air traffic controllers should work for the agency.

How the private sector responds

Kelly McCullough, legal director at Disability Law Colorado, said the messaging from the Trump administration could affect how seriously the private sector takes on disability inclusion efforts. Recently, she said, the nonprofit has received an uptick in disability discrimination complaints.

''It does make me wonder, if the federal government is setting this example, challenging these ideas of inclusion that have (had) long-standing support from the government … is that trickling down?'' she said. ''Is that messaging getting to employers in other contexts?''

Trump also rescinded a Biden-era executive order that required federal agencies to create action plans to hire more diverse staff, including those with disabilities. The order calls diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, or DEIA, efforts ''illegal'' and says they ''violate the text and spirit'' of civil rights.

The Trump administration's other actions have caused consternation, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.‘s dismantling of the Administration for Community Living, an agency that serves disabled and aging adults. HHS officials also floated –- and walked back -– a plan to create a registry of people with autism.

Katy Neas, CEO of The Arc of the United States, which advocates for people with physical and intellectual disabilities, said she is concerned about the impact the massive reductions in the federal workforce will have on government services for all Americans as well as the loss of opportunities for workers with disabilities.

''I'm really worried — where are these folks going to go? Who's going to hire them?" she asked.

Employment gaps for disabled people have been an issue across the federal and private sectors for years. When the Labor Department began recording disability status in its employment trends in the Current Population Survey in 2009, just 30% of disabled people between ages 16 and 64 were working at least part time. That's compared with 71% of people without a disability.

Last year, employment rates for disabled people hit a record high of 38%, but the decades-old disparities still persisted: 75% of people without disabilities were employed that year.

Making disability hiring a federal priority

Disability hiring in the federal government became a prominent effort in the 1970s, shortly after the passing of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits disability discrimination in federal agencies. Expectations to hire disabled people expanded from there.

In 2014, Democratic President Barack Obama's administration began requiring that federal contractors meet specific goals related to hiring disabled people.

Three years later, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated rules under the Rehabilitation Act. The new rules required federal agencies to set hiring goals for people with disabilities and create plans to help them get jobs and promotions.

Anupa Iyer Geevarghese worked as a disability policy adviser at the EEOC when officials updated the regulations. She said it increased progress in ensuring that disabled people had equitable opportunities in the federal workforce. She now worries that progress will be undone as the Trump administration shows little interest in continuing inclusion efforts.

''I think, unfortunately, there are still perceptions about the knowledge, skill and abilities of people with disabilities,'' she said. ''As a whole, we're still, as a community, still perceived as people who can't do their jobs, are unqualified, who are uneducated and are incapable … we thought we had combated it, but we are still fighting that fight.''

Abby Tighe, a former public health adviser at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, was among thousands of federal probationary workers terminated in February. Tighe, 30, has a progressive form of muscular dystrophy, which may eventually affect her ability to walk independently.

''I really truly understand how other people who are using a chair or using some kind of assistance device might be really concerned about that next stage of employment when they can't interview and hide their disability at the same time,'' she said.

Laid-off federal workers with disabilities worry about the future

Some also worry that disabled federal workers may have been disproportionately hurt by the terminations. Tighe and Goidel were hired through Schedule A, which allows a probationary period of up to two years. Other federal employees typically have one year of probation.

Tighe suspects that if she hadn't been hired through the special hiring authority, she might still have a job, given that no one else on her team was let go.

Goidel, who was converted to permanent status with full tenure in 2019, says his employment with the federal government motivated him to continue his education and pursue a master's degree in employment law. He says the decision to slash jobs at the IRS' EEO office will mean there are fewer federal workers able to investigate harassment claims and that could result in more litigation against the government.

The White House is promoting its efforts to provide services for disabled individuals and veterans.

In an email to The Associated Press, a White House official pointed to student loan forgiveness for completely disabled veterans and record low unemployment for people with disabilities during Trump's first term. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, also noted that a multiagency task force was created in 2018 to focus on increasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

HHS also announced plans for the Administration for Community Living to release more than $1 billion in funding to states to address nutrition, daily living assistance, chronic disease management and more.

Goidel says he hopes the Trump administration realizes what it's losing with the layoffs.

''They're taking away people's opportunities, and they're taking away people's livelihoods," he said. ''They're also hurting people who may need a little extra help to get over the finish line and have that upward mobility.''

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Hunter reported from Atlanta.