Nurse Volunteer Covered by ADA?

[mavdreams]

Hey all~ I'm looking for some advice on a frustrating situation that recently happened to me!

I currently hold a 'limited' RN license in the state of Minnesota due to drug diversion in 2006/2007. My license was suspended, etc and I got it back November 2010. I have no criminal record and am authorized to provide direct patient care. I've looked for jobs and am having a tough time, gave up for a while and learned through this forum that volunteering can be really helpful so I can have "recent" experience. I have been clean and sober for 3+ years and am currently being monitored by our state rehabilitation program.

I obtained a great volunteer job at Planned Parenthood (I use their name because it is a complicated non-profit company and I'm sure has specific laws that apply to the small number of places like them). Anyways, it was a nursing volunteer job at their clinic and on my first day I was very up front both with the nurse training me and with the clinic manager regarding my restriction and that I could not come into contact with narcs, etc. (not that I would as a volunteer of course)... The day after I did my shift, I received a phone call from the volunteer manager that I couldn't work in the clinic because of what came up on my license check, which she then snarked that she hoped I knew about it.... So against the clinic managers wishes, I was "fired" from volunteering by the volunteer manager because i was an addict at some point in my career.

I didn't fight her on it, but was thinking that since ADA applies to employed RN's with addiction problems, would it apply to volunteers? From the small amount of research I've done on the ADA website, it looks like I might be covered by ADA because PP receives grants from the Federal government, forcing them to treat volunteers as if they were employees when it comes to the American Disabilities Act. The only clause I could see as a potential problem would be that the grants they receive DO NOT get allocated to the abortion clinics and instead go to preventive health, publicity etc, as mandated by law.

Anyone have any ideas on if I would be covered? I really want this volunteer experience and am very discouraged about volunteering and definitely about finding a job since I was treated this way even when I wasn't hiding anything.

Its not worth getting a lawyer over but I wanna fight it if I've been legally wronged.

Any ideas or advice would be awesome! Thanks so much!