To disclose or not disclose a workplace disability to coworkers: attributions and invisible health conditions in the workplace

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-09-2021-0228
• Published date: 06 May 2022
• Date: 06 May 2022
• Pages: 1154-1180
• Subject Matter: HR & organizational behaviour,Employment law,Diversity,equality,inclusion
• Author: Eric Patton

To disclose or not disclose

a workplace disability

to coworkers: attributions and

invisible health conditions

in the workplace

Eric Patton

Department of Management, Saint Joseph’s University,

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Abstract

Purpose –The decision to disclose an illness is a difficult choice for many individuals. Despite national laws

such Americans with Disabilities Act that protect workers with disabilities from discrimination in the

workplace, the stigmas around certain illnesses, fears of being judged by others using different standards, and

concerns about a lack of support regardless of legal requirements are all reasons why someone may hesitate to

disclose a health condition in the workplace.

Design/methodology/approach –Using experimentally manipulated vignettes and a combination of

theories on attribution and incivility, this study explores the dangers of not disclosing a disability/condition

that can lead to behaviors that will engender judgments by coworkers.

Findings –The results of the study make clear that there are social benefits to disclosing a health condition

rather than concealing. The findings clearly demonstrate that attributing an individual’s negative behavior to

their disposition will lead to more judgments of responsibility, and less sympathy and more anger compared to

behaviors that can be explained by any health reason. Furthermore, more punishment, feelings of revenge and

social distancing await individuals whose negative behavior cannot be explained by health issues.

Originality/value –This study combines issues of health, attributions, incivility in an experimental studies

that illuminates issues surround disclosing a workplace disability that go beyond the typical focus of legal

questions.

Keywords Disabilities, Employee attitudes, Attribution, Neurodiversity, Industrial psychology

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

According to the World Health Organization (2018), 15% of the world population has some

form of disability. Millions of working-age adults deal with some health issue that creates

challenges around performing important life activities, including work.

Several countries offer legal protection for individuals with workplace disabilities. For

example, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Canada’s Human Rights Act,

Australia’s Disability Discrimination Act, and the United Kingdom’s Equality Act 2010

protect individuals with both physical and neurocognitive differences against discrimination

in the hiring process and require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for

qualified employees with workplace disabilities, unless these accommodations lead to undue

business hardship. In the United States, the term “disability”is contextualized to refer to a

medical condition that limits a person’s ability to accomplish an important life activity.

“Workplace disability”in this conceptualization is very broad and encompasses several

health conditions that can pose challenges in the workplace, including invisible ones such as

chronic lower back pain, autism, and dep ression. Additionally, the United Nations

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was adopted in 2006 to

create an open, inclusive, and accessible work environment, with article 27 highlighting the

EDI

41,8

1154

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/2040-7149.htm

Received 10 September 2021

Revised 12 December 2021

5 February 2022

4 April 2022

Accepted 14 April 2022

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 41 No. 8, 2022

pp. 1154-1180

© Emerald Publishing Limited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-09-2021-0228

rights of people with disabilities to earn a living by working in the labor market (Khan

et al., 2019).

Legislative acts that prot ect individuals with workp lace disabilities put the on us on

individuals to disclose their co ndition. If an employer is not made aware of a disability, the

duty to accommodate is uncertain or non -existent (Prince, 2017). Furthermore, for privacy,

disclosure under these laws is typicallyreported through human resource departments with

very limited information to man agers, and typically, no info rmation is disclosed to

coworkers. Disclosure to sup ervisors and coworkers is mor e informal and less legalistic .

Informal disclosure consi derations surrounding invisible health cond itions are the focus of

this study.

While laws aimed at protecting individuals with workplace disabilities from

discrimination are essential, they often fail to capture the reality and dynamics of modern

organizational life. In the modern workplace, task performance is not the only barometer to

measure employee success. To be considered a “good worker,”individuals typically must

master a set of soft interpersonal skills that are tangential to their actual tasks (Patton, 2019).

Displaying sportsmanship, helping behaviors, engaging in networking, possessing high

emotional intelligence, and being a good teammate are often essential for personal and

professional success. In many cases, a physical, psychiatric, or neurocognitive condition can

hamper the ability to achieve this ideal. As such, disclosure of a workplace disability is not

only a legal issue involving the human resources department but also a complicated social

issue involving relationship with coworkers, diversity climates, and internal psychological

factors of the individual with the health condition (Clair et al., 2005;Follmer et al., 2020;

Ragins, 2008). These social factors surrounding invisible health conditions can encourage or

discourage disclosure.

Several studies have demonstrated the positive psychological effects of disclosing a

hidden identity (Jans et al., 2012;King and Cortina, 2010;Newheiser et al., 2017;Santuzzi et al.,

2019) and have underlined that individuals can actively manage and frame hidden identities

in a positive and empowering way (Elraz, 2018;Shih et al., 2013). The decision to not disclose

to coworkers can be very risky, as any manifestations of an undisclosed medical condition

will often be noticed and maybe misattributed to non-health reasons. As explained by

Santuzzi et al. (2014):

Importantly, without disclosure, any .... performance decrements would be attributed by others

(who are unaware of the true cause of the impairment) to the employee’s lack of knowledge, skill, or

ability to do the job. Although perhaps avoiding social stigma, these workers risk experiencing

performance declines and negative appraisals as consequences of concealing a performance-relevant

disability. In the absence of disclosure, poor performance and negative evaluations cannot be traced

to characteristics that, when apparent, would entitle the worker to legal protections. (p. 207)

Similarly, Jans et al. (2012) reported that individuals with invisible health conditions in their

focus group strongly advocated for disclosure on the basis that differences would become

obvious in the workplace. Coworkers and managers would sense something unusual and,

with no explanatory information and ability to attribute behavior to a health condition, they

would judge the person with a hidden health condition as a poor fit.

Although formally disclosing a workplace disability may appear to be common sense

given legal protections, workplace accommodations, individual well-being, and attributions

of behavior by others, a strong body of scholarship has underscored that the decision to

disclose is very difficult and there are many barriers to disclosing a health condition in the

workplace (Ellison et al., 2003;Goldberg et al., 2005;Jones, 2011;Santuzzi et al., 2014;von

Schrader et al., 2014a;Waugh et al., 2017). As will be explained in the next section, these

barriers to disclosure are generally social in nature and often stem from fears related to

stigmatization and stereotypes around the health condition.

Attibutions

and health

conditions

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