Originally published here.

While workplace discrimination based on demographic factors such as gender and ethnicityhas been widely covered in the literature, need for examination of workplace discrimination based on disability status and the role that organizations have in creating and perpetuating patterns of discrimination against workers with disabilities still exists (Robert and Harlan2006). In 1996, Stone and Colella noted, “little research in human resource management,organizational behavior, or industrial/organizational psychology has focused on disability-related issues” (p. 353).

This statement is arguably still true, although several experimentalstudies using hypothetical job applicants or employees to gauge the responses of others,such as coworkers or employers, have been conducted (Sipersteinet al. 2006). This approach provides some useful information, but reveals a need for expansion in researchmethodology. Additional research directly addressing the work experiences of employeeswith disabilities, particularly of an empirical nature, is still needed.An estimated 23.9% of disabled individuals over 18 participate in the labor market ascompared to 72.4% for the general population (McMenamin et al. 2006).

This low rate of  participation may be in part due to concerns about the cost of accommodation (Graffam et al. 2002a), which may be exacerbated by a tendency among employers to overestimate thecosts associated with employing workers with disabilities (Graffam et al. 2002b). However,concerns about job performance and absenteeism may also motivate employers. Stereotypesof disabled employees, including perceptions of lower productivity and higher accident andturnover rates, may affect hiring rates (Fuqua et al. 1984; Greenwood and Johnson 1987;Lester and Caudill 1987).

In contrast, previous research shows that employers are generallysatisfied with the performance of workers with disabilities (McFarlin et al. 1991), and that these individuals frequently demonstrate levels of performance, absenteeism, accidents, andturnover equal to or better than the general workforce (Braddock and Bachelder  1994;Mackay 1995; Unger  2001). The existence of negative stereotypes likely also affects thedaily lives of employees with disabilities, leading to a variety of harmful experiences in theworkplace, such as unfair treatment in formal decision making regarding pay, promotion, or training opportunities (overt discrimination), or through inappropriate interpersonalmistreatment (subtle discrimination).

In addition, the potential for perceived injustice indecision making exists, and an overall culture of exclusion may lead to lower jobsatisfaction rates among workers with disabilities.This study was intended to extend research on the experiences of disabled workers by providing additional information on a previously explored variable (overt discrimination),and investigating two other negative job experiences previously neglected in the literature(subtle discrimination and procedural injustice), comparing disabled and non-disabledworkers.

In addition, the differential experiences of individuals with physical and non- physical disabilities will be explored. Finally, two potential moderating factors, perceivedorganizational support and perceived supervisor support, will be investigated to determinewhether they have the potential to reduce perceptions of negative workplace experiences.Employees with DisabilitiesThe Americans with Disabilities Act defines disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities (USDOJ 1990).

The findings of this study provide supporting evidence for the continuing challenges of workers with disabilities, despite the intervening time since the establishment of theAmericans with Disabilities Act. Much previous research, which examines the views of others toward individuals with disabilities in the workplace, may be affected by socialdesirability or demand characteristics (Stone and Colella 1996), and thus not reveal the trueattitudes and behaviors toward disabled employees.

Further direct examination of the perceptions of employees with disabilities is warranted and necessary to fully understandthe stigma attached to impairment. This effort should also investigate the mechanismsthrough which disabled workers develop perceptions of discrimination and injustice, andthe individual and organizational characteristics that may affect these perceptions. A call for examination of the relationship between perceived treatment and affective and behavioralresponses (Stone and Colella 1996) could be further addressed through a longitudinal investigation of the experiences of employees with disabilities.

Application of existingresearch in Industrial and Organizational Psychology regarding stigma and prejudice relatedto characteristics such as gender and race (e.g., Swim and Stangor  1998) should provefruitful. It is hoped the exploration of the frequency and types of discrimination and other negative outcomes, as well investigation of potential buffering effects provided by thisstudy, will contribute to a growing effort to improve the work experiences of disabledemployees and promote more comprehensive integration of disability in organizationalconceptions of diversity (cf. Olkin 2003).

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