
Autoimmune disease at work with Fay Calderone
From Under the Rug at Work by Nicole Turnbull | Chief Courage Officer | Neon Shed
April 12, 2026 · 36 min
About this episode
This episode discusses the impact of autoimmune disease in the workplace and the importance of supportive leadership and trust.
Autoimmune disease is often invisible at work, but its impact on workers, teams and leadership decisions is anything but. Welcome to Under the Rug at Work, where we shine light on the things that are normally swept under the rug. On this episode, our Founder and Chief Courage Officer, Nicole Turnbull, chats with Fay Calderone about autoimmune disease at work, and why this is a conversation more workplaces need to have. Fay Calderone is an employment lawyer, author of two books on psychosocial safety at work, and a partner at Hall & Wilcox. Drawing on both her professional expertise and lived experience with autoimmune disease, Fay shares what it means to manage chronic illness in high-pressure work environments, and where workplaces are still getting it wrong. In this conversation, Nicole and Fay talk about the realities of invisible illness at work, how stress can contribute to flare-ups and disease progression, and why trust is essential if workers are going to feel safe enough to disclose what they need. They also talk about what supportive leadership looks like in practice, from flexibility and reasonable adjustments to more proactive risk assessment. In this episode, we…
People in this episode
Host: Nicole Turnbull
Guest: Fay Calderone
Topics covered
- autoimmune disease
- workplace health
- chronic illness
- leadership
- trust in the workplace
- risk assessment
Keywords
- autoimmune disease
- chronic illness
- workplace
- stress
- trust
- leadership
- risk assessment
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Hall & Wilcox
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