An article in the 1933 royal decree established absolute physical unfitness for people with "sugar diabetes," preventing countless young people from registering as "seafarers" and working as skippers or aboard yachts and ships. This discrimination was defeated thanks to the legal battle waged by Federico Pes, 27. After three years, supported by lawyers Gianni Loy and Salvatore Moi, and accompanied on this journey by the Sardinian Association for Juvenile and Infantile Diabetes (ADIG) and the Youth Diabetes Federation (ADG), he achieved a significant victory for all diabetics: the ruling by the Labor Judge of the Cagliari Court, Andrea Bernardino, ruled that Article 4 of the 93-year-old royal decree should be considered tacitly repealed due to its incompatibility with more recent legal provisions. In recent days, the Port Authority registered the young man, a graduate in Economics and a sailing enthusiast, in the first category of the Seafarers' Register.

A road opened

"I'm happy," explains the 27-year-old. "This will allow diabetics to pursue this career path and not be discriminated against by an extremely outdated law that, as highlighted in the ruling, failed to take into account new regulations and the significant advances in medical science." Therefore, simply having diabetes cannot be an absolute prerequisite for physical unfitness, "regardless of the applicant's specific condition." Pes is especially pleased for others: "This has opened a door for diabetics like me. It would have been absurd to be automatically excluded simply because I had diabetes, without taking into account the incredible scientific and medical advances. Especially because I had a valid boating license to work privately: I always passed my medical exams with excellent grades."

The result

The ruling therefore recognizes the discriminatory nature of automatic exclusion. Thanks to the work of attorney Moi, the 1933 provision was deemed superseded by other laws, particularly Law No. 115 of 1987, "Provisions for the Prevention and Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus": it establishes that "diabetic disease without disabling complications does not constitute a reason for disqualification from employment in the public or private sector, except in cases requiring specific, particular attitudinal requirements." The labor judge, after a technical assessment by diabetologist Rocco Cirillo, which revealed that the young man's psychophysical health conditions were "compatible with the performance of all duties typical of those registered in the first category of seafarers," thus upheld the argument of Pes's lawyers. Thus, in addition to deeming the 1933 provision "tacitly repealed," he also recognized the existence of discrimination.

"Despite extraordinary scientific advances in diabetes management and treatment," lawyers Moi and Loy emphasize, "and despite evidence that people with diabetes are capable of any physical performance, employers still harbor prejudice. And antiquated regulations remain that are difficult to overcome."

Now this ruling is considered to be of "great importance, because it eliminates another of the 'strings and strings' that complicate the lives of many people affected by diabetes, and because, if appropriately disseminated, it contributes to overcoming the erroneous beliefs and prejudices that are still widespread in public opinion."

Matthew Vercelli

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