Hi Eric,

Thanks for writing to us! Since your question is legal in nature and I'm not a cancer rights attorney, I would recommend that you reach out to the National Cancer Legal Services Network: http://www.nclsn.org/ and check out the resources from our partners are Triage Cancer: http://triagecancer.org/

We do have a section on our website that is very relevant to your question, but not this form in particular, and that is the answer to the first question here: http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/at-work/legal-and-financial/top-three-legal-questions

The question is "What, if anything, am I obligated to disclose regarding my diagnosis to my employer" and the answer is that generally, under the law you do not need to disclose anything about your diagnosis to your current or potential employer.

Again, I am not a cancer rights attorney, so would suggest that you consult one to get an answer to your specific question.

I hope that this is helpful!

Best,
Sarah, Manager of Programs, Cancer and Careers

I, too, have the same question and have been round and round looking at the resources cited without finding an answer. The question asked on the applications is very specific. Who can help us know how best to answer this probing question?

Hi Ellen,

Thanks for your post! We're sorry for the delay in responding. It's a tricky question to answer, so we are discussing internally and externally in the hopes of giving the best possible guidance -- but I wanted to touch base to let you know we have not forgotten about you!

We will certainly let you know as soon as we have an update.

Warm regards,
Maddy Meislin
Associate Manager of Programs

Hi Ellen,

I know it has taken a long time for an answer here, in part it is because there is no perfect one and we wanted to make sure we thought through the best imperfect answer. Here are the things to keep in mind as you determine the best way to proceed when you are faced with one of these forms:
1) You never want to lie. This is why the dealing with forms is so much more difficult than when you are actually having an in person conversation where you can use techniques like the Swivel (http://www.cancerandcareers.org/en/looking-for-work/interviewing/the-swivel) to steer the conversation.
2) You do want to make sure to read the question and answer what is actually being asked and not any more than that. Phrasing really matters and since each form might ask the question differently you want to really consider what is being asked before you do anything. Sometimes on a first read we think we know what info someone is looking for but it is actually us filling in details not really there.
3) The most important thing you can do is be comfortable with your answer. Some people will choose to select "prefer not to answer" while others will feel that is as much of a red flag as selecting an answer that indicates you have or have had a disability (however the form is defining it).
4) Usually, these questions are being asked for demographic purposes and nothing more, often there are a series of them (though in the example from the original post that is not the case) so if you choose to say "prefer not to answer" for one you may want to consider saying it for all of the demographic questions to be consistent. Again this will be a personal choice.
5) CAC spends a lot of time focused on encouraging people to develop their networking skills (we are actually working on getting more content about that on the website) and part of the value in that is that though you may still face these forms and a formal screening/hiring process if you are also able to network with someone in the company, organization or agency you are interested in working for that can do wonders to overcome any stumbling blocks that a blind application might face.

Please feel free to follow up with additional questions/concerns.

Best,
Rebecca

Rebecca V. Nellis, MPP
Chief Mission Officer
Cancer and Careers