A Reveal investigation found a history of similar allegations of disability discrimination for years.
ATLANTA — If you don’t believe in superpowers, just witness how fast some blind people can read. Not by brail, but through screen-reader software programs that pronounce the words on computer screens aloud through speech synthesizers.
One attorney at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who is blind, can read up to 600 words a minute. Most sighted people read just over 200 words per minute.
“I would take a nap,” said Michael, who asked us not to use his full name.
Michael can read so fast, it makes legal disclaimers at the end of radio advertisements sound slow.
“This is what people are missing out by not hiring blind people,” Michael said.
When he landed a job at the CDC in 2019, it was a big deal. Within six months, his boss promoted him. He received nearly a perfect score in his first annual review: four-and-a-half stars out of five.
Michael’s supervisors took notice of his work, too.
“I have no reservations giving him my highest recommendation,” one supervisor said in a letter reviewed by The Reveal last year.
Michael said another supervisor commended his work ethic by saying he acts like he's been working for at least 10 years in the field of law, even though at the time he had just started.
Most of Michael's work focused on legal appeals in the office that handles the agency’s public records requests.
He hoped he would one day retire from the CDC, but...
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