Question
About a year ago, my husband and I hired a contractor to do renovations and maintenance on our house and property. This man (whom I'll call "Jack") has given excellent service, except for certain disquieting incidents (e.g., his repeated failure to read and act on written messages which we have left for him in designated locations?he claimed that he had not seen those messages, or sometimes stated that he had not understood them).

Incidents of this kind eventually led us to suspect that "Jack" could not read, and could not write except for numerals and a scribble to sign his name. Indeed, soon after we began to suspect this, "Jack's" brother "Bob" (filling in for "Jack" one day in "Jack's" absence) got to talking about "Jack" never having done well at school (except for arithmetic) ?"Bob" indeed confidentially mentioned that "Jack never learned to read or write. He does a great job, as you know, and you know he is a pretty smart guy. but there are just things Jack cannot do no matter how hard he has tried to learn them. But don't tell him I let you know he can't read or write. He just gets by without reading or writing because he's so smart on other ways. But don't let him know I told you ?he'd make my life REALLY miserable forever if he knew that I'd let on, or even guessed I'd let on." Knowing "Jack" pretty well by now, my husband and I (as it happens) agree with "Bob's" estimate of "Jack's" high intelligence. However, we now have to consider confronting "Jack" about his illiteracy ?simply because of the likelihood that this may one day pose a serious problem (as yet, it has posed only rather minor though unexpected problems). Knowing this fact about "Jack" means we have to consider either:

/a/ firing "Jack" (which means that "Jack" could take us to court because we'd never specified literacy as a condition of employment),

/b/ asking "Bob" to work for us instead of "Jack" ("Bob" has a contracting business of his own ?so it seems likely that switching from "Jack" to "Bob" would cause "Jack" to resent us and also cause "Jack" to resent his brother) or

/c/ insisting that "Jack" learn to read and write if he wants to continue working for us (this, the logical course of action, presents its own problems, because we do not know whether a man who got through high school without learning to read and write, and who then built a career without learning to read and write, will ?or even can ?now learn to read and write just because one of his clients feels unhappy that he cannot or will not learn this.)

Which course of action should we follow? Also ?whatever course of action we follow ?how CAN we follow that course of action without embarrassing the man, without causing "bad blood" between him and his brother, and without giving him grounds for legal action against us?  

Answer
Hi Kate,

This really isn't a disabilities question, since illiteracy is not a disability in and of itself.

But I did have a thought that perhaps being visually impaired made me likely to think about.

Can you leave Jack recorded notes?  You can even phrase it as your husband's latest gizmo.. and just faster and easier than leaving a note..

I'd have to say that otherwise this is an issue of etiquette and whatever relationship you have with the fellow rather than anything to do with a disability.. unless you suspect he has a learning disability, like dyslexia.  It is possible.. you might ask Bob if they have thought of that.

If that is the case, he may prefer to think of himself as just not knowing how to read rather than disabled.. so you would be back at square one.  But if you try the little memo recorder and he balks at that, I am afraid I would find someone new.  As they say, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

Good luck.

Nan