Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City resident Deborah Bowman says her daughter Heather is "a little fighter."
Heather nearly drowned when she was just under 2 years old, Bowman said, and doctors initially thought she wouldn't make it through the night. The accident left her cortically blind and with no reflexes.
Through a lot of therapy, home care and "a billion miracles," Heather eventually regained her vision and some of her movement, Bowman said. She's now 40 years old and though many of her large motor skills have never returned, she's been able to hold several jobs.
For instance, Bowman said Heather worked several hours a week for four or five years through the South Valley Training Company, a service provider for adults with disabilities, where she did tasks like sorting items and putting together colored pencil packets.
But because she worked under a 14(c) contract, Heather only made about $2 an hour, Bowman said.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 14(c) contracts "authorize employers to pay subminimum wages to workers with disabilities that impair their productivity for the work they perform."
"14(c)" refers to section 214, subsection C, of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which lays out under what conditions "handicapped workers" can be paid less than minimum wage.
According to a 2020 brief created by the Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University, the policy is only meant to be applied when a person's...
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