'I’m Not Happy. I Want To Die.' No, He Wasn’t A Lawyer
A sad story about aging, age discrimination, and dying.
This post is about workplace age discrimination — and the end of life.
A couple of years ago I read about a disturbing situation in Australia. Apparently, a famous Perth University scientist whose career had spanned 70 years, five continents, and 130 published works, and who held three doctorates, was “nicely” pushed out the door.
Why?
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
The University was allegedly concerned about his health and well-being — he was 102 years old.
The University said that he would be permitted to work at home, and that it would even provide him with his very own computer and printer! And he would be allowed to come back for meetings whenever he wanted! Great accommodation, huh? What a swell University being so swell to a professor of 70 years!
Problem is, he had no space for a computer or an office at home. Some accommodation.
“A brand new sledgehammer for Christmas!”
Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
I loved the Little Rascals when I was a kid (remember them?) — perhaps you recall an episode where a truant officer (Mickey?) is scaring the school-cutting waifs with stories of breaking rocks at “reform school” — to which they’re surely headed. But after a few minutes of this, he changes tack and purports to “console” them (with a straight face): “But, oh, they’re real good to you on Christmas,” he says, as they smile with evident relief — maybe things are not that bad. “Everyone gets a brand new sledgehammer!”
Relief turns to horror as their mouths drop open, and Mickey turns away smirking. Some consolation.
To me, at least, a computer for a professor of 70 years who was severed from the school and has no room for a home office is every bit as joyful as a new sledgehammer for Christmas.
“There are risks to him!”
“According to the University, there are risks associated with Dr. Goodall’s travel to and from work as well as concerns for his general wellbeing,” the article said. “Currently, Dr. Goodall travels to the Joondalup campus at least four days a week, making the 90-minute commute by catching two buses and a train. Vice-Chancellor Steve Chapman said the institute aims to minimise these risks and had contacted Dr. Goodall’s family for its opinion.”
Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
The school was evidently pleased with itself — with its paternal role and its apparent beneficence in letting the Professor know that he can work at home — even if he can’t.
His daughter, however, was “appalled.”
“I don’t know if he would survive it.”
The news article noted that the daughter said that the move would rob her father of his independence and mental well-being. “I said it would be the worst thing you (the University) could possibly do, I don’t know if he would survive it. After everything he has contributed, for them to do that, I’m appalled.”
In the U.S., the laws would seemingly prohibit this obvious case of age discrimination; as we have seen in the realm of pregnancy and disability discrimination, despite the best intentions, an employer has no business being paternalistic and treating someone disparately or adversely “for his own good.” As long as s/he is qualified to do the job, the inquiry would seem to end there.
This story, however, doesn’t end here — but it does have an end, equally disturbing depending on how you view it.
“I’m not happy. I want to die.”
It was reported on May 3rd that Professor Goodall, 104, “isn’t terminally ill, but he wants to die.”
He was reported as saying that “his quality of life has deteriorated so badly that he has no reason to live, and he would like to end his life through assisted suicide. But he can’t do it in his own country, where the practice is banned.”
He said that, “I greatly regret having reached that age.”
Because assisted suicide is illegal in Australia, Professor Goodall was forced to fly half way around the world — “his last flight” — to an assisted-dying agency in Switzerland, “where assisted suicide has been allowed for decades.” The New York Times reported that “Switzerland is the only country with centers that offer assisted-suicide services to foreigners if the person assisting acts unselfishly.” (The Times noted that some states in the U.S., as well as D.C., Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands permit euthanasia or assisted suicide).
Australian broadcaster ABC reported that Professor Goodall said that, “I’m not happy. I want to die. It’s not sad particularly. What is sad is if one is prevented.”
As he left Australia, the Times quoted him as saying that, “I’m sorry that I have to travel to Switzerland in order to execute it. I’ve lived quite a good life until recently. The last year has been less satisfactory for me because I couldn’t do things.”
A right-to-die group, Exit International, helped pay for his business class plane ticket through a GoFundMe campaign. Said one of the organization’s activists, “The world is changing but Australia lags badly.”
“He is expected to succumb next Thursday.”
After he fell in his apartment last month and was not found for two days, his physical condition deteriorated and he was prevented from traveling. His daughter, a clinical psychologist, said that, “His work is his hobby, as well as his passion, and without his work, I don’t think that there would be a purpose for him anymore.” He apparently felt the same way.
She noted that, “He has no control over his life, over his body, over his eyesight. He has lived a really good 104 years. Whatever happens, whatever choices are made, they’re up to him.”
In a quote perhaps strange to some ears, ABC said that “he is expected to succumb next Thursday.”
Succumb he did, as expected — and as he wished.
“I no longer want to continue life.”
The night before he died, he said that he never had any moments of hesitation, “No, none whatever. I no longer want to continue life, and I’m happy to have a chance tomorrow to end it.”
On Thursday, as ABC had predicted, he died. Among his last words: “It would’ve been much more convenient for everyone if I had been able to [die at home], but unfortunately it failed.”
Takeaway
Sad story about aging, age discrimination, and dying. But Professor Goodall died as he had wanted — even though he was not allowed to die where he wanted.
The University made the employment decision for him, but, as his daughter said about his end-of-life decision, “Whatever happens, whatever choices are made, they’re up to him.”
And he made his choice.
Richard B. Cohen has litigated and arbitrated complex business and employment disputes for almost 40 years, and is a partner in the NYC office of the national “cloud” law firm FisherBroyles. He is the creator and author of his firm’s Employment Discrimination blog, and received an award from the American Bar Association for his blog posts. You can reach him at Richard.Cohen@fisherbroyles.com and follow him on Twitter at @richard09535496.