Even when you love your job, there are occasional days when nothing sounds better than a long vacation. But when you’re living with multiple sclerosis, workplace complications can take on a more serious tone. Multiple sclerosis most often strikes young adults in the prime of their careers, and though some sufferers decide to leave the workforce, financial need or personal satisfaction keeps many other MS patients working long past their initial diagnosis.

Unfortunately, the ugly head of discrimination can rear its head when disability enters the workplace. Although the United Nations ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2008—an international human rights treaty that protects people with physical or emotional disabilities from discrimination in any aspect of daily life—and the Convention has been ratified by 158 nations around the globe, MS sufferers still frequently encounter ignorance, anger or impatience when it comes to their rights in the workplace.

Just ask Randall Hurst, hired to work at a car dealership in Texas, with the promise of partnership ahead. But once Hurst was diagnosed with MS, and informed his managers of the condition, instead of partnership, Hurst was subjected to harassment and insults until he finally resigned. He won his lawsuit, but some MS patients are too discouraged to pursue legal action even after blatant discrimination.

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