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What to do about my excruciating work situation?

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:52:59 -0800

What are the best strategies for my current work situation? Question relates to disability, unemployment, and illegal activities (not mine). Apologies for any lack of detail, but, you know, anonymity.

I've been at my current job for about a year and a half, where I'm a good performer. Since requesting reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities act (I work in Illinois), my manager and the HR department have started building a tardiness-related firing case (no other employees in the department even have their arrival times tracked), I've had my shift switched back and forth (in addition to some other petty stuff that's jerky but not, apparently, illegal), brought to meetings with HR where I'm yelled at and not allowed to talk, and other Office Space-ish nonsense. One lawyer (although not my lawyer) told me it was clearly retaliation.

Further: the company is misleading in the descriptions of some of its products (although I'm not sure if it crosses the line into actionable fraud as IANAL), they haven't hung the required labor-law posters, and they (as in, the company, not individual users) install pirated software on computers (I've brought this up to multiple managers with no result, and have screencaps of cracker signatures from multiple installs).

Possibly more important: the stress just from going in every day is becoming unbearable. I feel like I'm going to "lose it." My health's been affected. I'm sick of the frustration and I'm sick of taking their shit, and I've run the situation (in much more detail, obviously) by some of my more level-headed friends, and they agree that I'm being treated quite poorly.

So: should I wait until they fire me (as they've told me they will the next time I'm at all late - it's a "right to work" state so that's their right, I guess, ADA issues aside), quit and try to collect unemployment insurance until another full-time job comes up (Illinois seems to allow this if the company was participating in illegal activity), or stick it out, hope their assholism toward me crosses the line into blatant illegality (after reading a recent Metafilter post on workplace bullying, I realized my manager met about 2/3 of the criteria, but, again, being a jerk isn't illegal), and depend on the legal system to provide redress?

Does anyone have any concrete examples of how "undue burden" is determined for a county government under the ADA?

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:53:28 -0800

Does anyone have any concrete examples of how "undue burden" is determined for a county government under the ADA? Yes, YANAL, but: a deaf friend who works for a county government was denied an interpreter at a mandatory equal opportunity training (irony lovers, rejoice).

I can't find anything specifically giving examples of how undue financial burden is determined in a case like this.... I did find that the county government is bound by the ADA, and that the type of and cost of the accommodation are considered in light of the overall financial resources of the facility or facilities involved in the provision of the reasonable accommodation, but nothing specifically detailing what expense would be acceptable as compared to a county budget.

How would you go about finding that sort of information? Would it require looking into court records of cases brought against local governments?

My friend's rather shaken up, her comfort around administration considerably lowered.... But she's interested less in grievance than in correction, if it can be forced.

Is there any recourse if you are fired for conduct due to disability?

Danila — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:41:47 -0800

Fired for misconduct (threats of violence) related to disability. Is there any recourse? My brother was fired about an hour ago. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and has been with the company for six years. Last week, he came into work while manic and told his supervisor that he "felt like hitting someone". He did not make a specific threat against anyone but was describing how he felt. His supervisor recommended that he go home. He then checked into a hospital and was released yesterday, doing much better. He has never had a manic incident at work before. He has been very good at his job and won numerous awards. His medications have been changed to better control the mania.

An hour ago he went to work and was fired for "threats of violence".

He has kept the company in the loop about his disorder, providing medical documentation when needed and always being honest with his supervisor because they encouraged this. That is the only reason he told them how he was feeling, and now he has been fired for it. It is a very large company and he is a full-time employee. He is also in the union.

Does he have any recourse at all? We assume he needs to speak with an employment lawyer, but is there any hope? He will be meeting with the head union rep on Monday, is there anything he can do before then? He sees his doctor tomorrow, is there anything he needs from the doctor? Please help if you can. Thank you.

ADA ADD AAAAGH

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 16:08:22 -0800

My problems with ADHD have reached the point where my employer of two years wants me to fill out paperwork requesting "reasonable accommodations" through the Americans with Disabilities Act. What now? I'm in my mid-twenties, and I love my job. I've been working at least part-time since high school, so I'm no wide-eyed infant when it comes to employment. My current job, however, is my first serious full-time non-temp job out of college, is perfect for me at this time in my life, and losing it would feel catastrophic.

Regardless, my status here has been precarious since day one. I was diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago (my senior year of college) and have been on Adderall since then. It's helped me tremendously, but I still have problems - particularly with time management (I'm frequently late, to the point where I've missed several important meetings and trainings) and disorganization. Since I've arrived, my initial probationary period was extended by 30 days, I've received a verbal warning, two written warnings, and I've been put on an "improvement plan." The consensus is that I'm fantastic when I'm there and working, and so far my talents have outweighed my deficits, but the problems can't continue.

I'd actually been doing much better for several months, but then I decided to try some different ADHD meds, which was a big mistake - they didn't work well at all, so for August and September I was essentially unmedicated, and everything fell apart again. I had a meeting last week with my boss and her boss, and they requested I fill out ADA paperwork . This includes a section for my doctor to complete, and also a section where I can ask for "reasonable accommodations" for my disability.

So, my questions, because I'm pretty baffled by this process. Would speaking to a lawyer be worthwhile? Will this have unpleasant consequences far in the future, especially if I want to go into a medical field? What reasonable accommodations are...reasonable? I'm really not sure what to ask for. Like many people with ADHD, I've been beating myself up for so long that I find it odd to think of myself as having a disability that deserves accommodation in the first place. A more flexible schedule seems like an obvious request, but much of my day involves meeting with clients during specific hours, so I can't do much there. I should also mention that we're very short-staffed and they definitely want to keep me, as long as I can keep my shit together.

If it matters, I'm in all kinds of treatment - individual CBT therapy, group DBT therapy, meds, plus everything I can think of on my own. I'm definitely not complacent about my problems, which makes all this especially discouraging and scary.

If anyone has any experience with or insight into a situation like this, please share your thoughts. This is in California, if it matters. Throwaway e-mail account: adhdada@gmail.com. Thank you!

Wither the ADA's blessing?

bruceo — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:45:22 -0800

Why do Crest, Colgate, etc. no longer display the ADA seal of approval? Since the '70s, almost all toothpaste brands have sported a "Seal of Approval" from the American Dental Association. I've been accustomed to the cute little ADA logo appearing on all the boxes in my store's toothpaste aisle. In my head, the seal means "Has fluoride and won't dissolve your enamel."

Recently, I noticed that Crest and Colgate and most other brands no longer display the ADA seal/logo on their packaging. I'm not sure when this happened. AIM still displays the seal, but I could not find any others.

Is it possible that the ADA has withdrawn their approval of these brands? Or do the toothpaste companies feel that the ADA seal is no longer necessary or useful?

Ada from Decatur

Pollomacho — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 05:23:57 -0800

Please help me find a song filter: Looking for the song Ada from Decatur. My very cute and very sweet 8 month old daughter is named after her great-great-grandmother, Ada. While out and about in my North East DC neighborhood we ran into a very nice old lady who shared some smiles and coos with Ada and asked her name. When I told her, she asked if I'd ever heard the old tune Ada from Decatur?

My google-fu has failed me, except for one reference on a WFMU playlist for December 18, 1999 where Ada from Decatur by Jimmy Liggins off the Duplex label was played. Knowing Jimmy and Joe Liggins as swingin' R&B musicians of the late 40's, this song is a must have! Please help oh mighty hive mind!

Also, I am aware that Ada from Decatur is also a craps term. I went to college with many a degenerate gambler in Mississippi who also refer to jacks as "cowboys," queens as "ladies," and nines as "neener-ross." Thanks again!

Ada to C++ conversion of floating types filter

caflores22 — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:05:06 -0800

I am currently working on a by the book Ada to C++ conversion of legacy code and am having a bit of trouble coming with a C++ solution for a particular Ada idiom. The Ada construct specifies floats with various levels of precision and then uses these types in bit packed fields:

Delta15: constant := (1.0 / 2**15)
type Data16 is delta Delta15 range -1.0 .. (1.0 - Delta15);
for Data16 'Size use 16;

...

type X is
record
Y: Data16;
Y2: Data16;
end record;

My question is this, how do I represent this in C++? Double's and floats are 64 bits by default. Essentially I need to create a 16 bit fixed point double. Any ideas are welcome. Thanks for your help.

Help my buddy stay healthy

kamikazegopher — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 19:59:20 -0800

I need to help a friend find free/cheap legal aid for an employment/ADA situation in Los Angeles. I have a friend who has pancreatic cancer. It's usually fatal, but for some reason, he's still kicking. He normally works in a highly technical manufacturing area with an intemperate climate. After his last few bouts of pneumonia, he was given an office-type temporary position. He's been relatively healthy lately. Now, he's being replaced by someone with a degree and he's been told that he has to go back to working in the intemperate manufacturing climate, despite the fact that his doctor recommends ambient temperature. My friend is afraid of fighting recurrent bouts of pneumonia again.

We're not really sure if there are laws that benefit people like him.

I don't expect anyone to necessarily be able to help with specifics, but I'm hoping to be able to point him to some competent, low-cost legal aid. He spends a large portion of wages on meds that keep him alive, so he doesn't have much disposable income. Thanks for any advice.

ADA-Compliant Webmail

answergrape — Tue, 20 Jan 2004 17:03:21 -0800

I need to find an ADA-compliant webmail interface. I'd prefer a free option that will allow POP3 and (preferrably) IMAP access. Hotmail is not an option since they no longer allow access to external POP boxes and Yahoo is out because of spam. Any suggestions?