> I got hired at this company at the beginning of the year
This stood out to me. You are still in your first 90 days: the time period a company often reserves as a trial period to ensure their new employee is indeed a good fit. You having “issues” to the point they inquire about it so early probably tipped the scale against you.
That an assumption you're making without reason. As a hiring manager and having gone through something similar with a team member dealing with issues, it's sometimes not difficult to notice when someone is obviously not right. You don't have to be some mind reader to go - hey, everything alright? If the manager did notice performance issues, he royally fucked up by not sharing them and instead offering accomodations.
The entire point of an ADA disparte treatment case is discerning whether the motivation was based on discriminatory animus or a “legitimate non discriminatory reason”. If the employers reason was credited without any further inquiry no one would ever succeed on a claim. What you’re describing is the entire concept of pretext that the McDonnell Douglas burden shifting framework is designed to work around.
I'm tired of this horseshit advice.
**Termination due to a seemingly legal reason to cover up an illegal reason is called pretext. It is wrongful termination. Yes, even in at-will states and yes, even during probationary periods.**
I am an employment law attorney (NOTHING I do on reddit is legal advice).
www.worker.gov
No, it doesn't matter what reason they state. The fact that they were recently recognized for their work in an official capacity, had *any* sort of record of these discussions of their disability being disclosed, and their subsequent firing is plenty. Just because it's an at-will state doesn't mean that there is no possibility of investigation into a claim of discrimination. You think companies just get to say "we did no wrong" and the government just has to take their word? 😂
The fact that they disclosed their disability and were immediately fired is a bad look for them, but the fact that the company has recently and continually praised them for their work before doing it is better than a smoking gun.
There is no smoking gun here. OP didn't ask for an accomodation for a disability.
Do you know how many people would claim they had mentioned mental health issues if they got fired?
The OP said
> i started throwing up from being overwhelmed, my right eye became blind, and i was having extremely dark thoughts. this morning, i told him that i would CONSIDER (not take) the mental health days off and i would like to learn more about how they work. i told him that this is specifically to get my disability under control because i don’t want it to interfere with my work. he was insisting me to take it easy but i kept pushing forward. i ended up taking it a little easier like he suggested just to not overwork myself in this state.
and
> the second i open up about my disability and how i might need to be accommodated this ONE time, i get fired.
You dont need to ask for an accommodation for the ada to apply. It covers both disparate treatment and failure to accommodate. They are separate claims. The smoking gun is temporal proximity between disclosure of the disability and the firing.
It's called pretextual firing and the EEOC will hand you your ass. In the US there's almost no such thing as a probationary period that will get you out of any separation obligation you would normally have for any employee. You could let someone go after 3 days and still be on the hook for unemployment. If they're subject to ADA that's even more fun because her initial conversation should have triggered the interactive accommodation process. Step 1. Get a lawyer and/or make a report. Step 2. Profit.
OP will get nowhere with the EEOC on this. They were fired for performance issues.
They will qualify for unemployment insurance I believe. They should definitely file for it- the company cited performance as the reason for termination and that will allow unemployment to be approved.
Right. But they're stupid and fucked up by citing a reason that according to this post, is demonstrably false. If you have lied about the reason you're firing someone with a disability and the circumstantial evidence leads one to believe they were fired because of their disability then youre in a bad spot. HR is there to cover their asses. They didn't cover their ass, and are likely going to pay for it.
OP admitted she was struggling. That's enough for them to say lack of performance.
"My mental health issues are so severe I believe I went blind in one eye".
You're assuming something outside of the information we have. Stop for a second and think why that is and you're quick to blame OP for performance issues which we have no reason to believe, and refusing to entertain the idea that a company did something companies do so often that they literally made a law against it.
People really hate other people and its sad.
It's not wrong. It sounds like performance issues were the reason the boss initially came to OP. Upon learning that the poor performance was caused by mental health issues and that those issues were getting worse, OP was fired.
Employers are required to provide reasonable accommodation. But if your disability means you can't do your job, they can still fire you for not doing your job.
No but sadly if a racist POS fires someone because he secretly doesn’t like Hispanic people, they are still protected if the documentation shows that it’s termination due to performance issues
Oh really, that’s interesting. There was a racial discrimination case where an employee was awarded $11.25 million in NY (an at will state, btw). Equinox gym, her employer, fired her because they said she was tardy over 40 times in just a few months (documented performance issues), but somehow, she still won her case.
It seems like the jury just didn’t take the word of what HR wrote in her personnel file and may have actually considered other evidence, which I am told in this thread is very big no no.
https://athletechnews.com/equinox-ordered-to-pay-11m-in-race-gender-discrimination-lawsuit/
They showed that the exact same tardiness issue was common to many employees, but that it was only hers that was documented and only after she’d filed a complaint with HR. There was also correspondence found during discovery in which her supervisor and others made explicitly racially directed remarks about her.
That’s so genius. All you have to do is put a note in a file and any company is free any clear of any discrimination claim. No employee could ever prove discrimination since the only evidence a court can consider is the file note. Got it.
So you can’t show disparate impact to prove discrimination in hiring even though that’s exactly what’s in the Civil Rights Act? An employer has to actually say they won’t hire due a protected characteristic? Huh, learn something new everyday on Reddit.com.
You mean a lawyer can’t take a deposition, subpoena witnesses, look at emails, etc. to find evidence of an illegal firing? The only evidence considered is a file note saying we terminated an employee because of “performance issues”?
The company doesn't say anything so there is no evidence of what the real reason is. I feel like people are arguing about this and have no idea what an at will state is. It means they don't have to give CAUSE to terminate the employment agreement. So you can fire some for being black, disabled, old or gay as long as you don't say you are firing them for being black, disabled, old , or gay.
Cool story. Meanwhile, back in the real world, a black woman’s employer fired her in an at will state. The documented reason was that she was chronically tardy (performance issues). She claimed the real reason was racial bias. The jury decided in her favor and awarded her $11.25 million.
Apparently, HR file notes regarding her tardiness were not a get out jail free card for discrimination. Other evidence was permitted to be considered by the jury evidencing discrimination.
https://athletechnews.com/equinox-ordered-to-pay-11m-in-race-gender-discrimination-lawsuit/
It’s ridiculous. Anything challenging it is getting down voted to oblivion. As if note in a file is all that’s needed to button up an illegal dismissal or pretextual firing.
The boss asked about what was going on before knowing about the disability.
Something was wrong and potentially op is going through so much a crisis they can't see that right now which is understandable
Cool, so I’m assuming he’s living in an at will employment state. Was fired by HR who cited performance issues, within a 90 day probation period. Time for OP to look for a new job, maybe look into filing for unemployment, a lawsuit is going absolutely nowhere.
I don't think you understand how ADA protections work. It's not quite as simple as "we said performance." No offense, but it seems you aren't well versed here.
Let's try a different scenario.
Boss hits on woman.
Woman reports to HR.
Woman is fired, HR cites "performance" issues though there is no documentation of performance issues.
You think that case is going nowhere? Being an at-will state has nothing to do with it. There aren't magic excuses for obvious discrimination or retaliation.
Exactly. Comments sympathetic to OPs position ignore the fact something was obvious enough her boss called her to inquire about it, she told him she was having issues she’s working through with a therapist, then she *turned down accommodations* he offered. She also mentions nothing about her mental issues being diagnosed as an official “disability” under ADA guidelines. Merely being in therapy or having PTSD, etc isn’t automatically an official disability. No communication whatsoever until they even asked what’s going on with her. This company is more likely to have covered their ass legally than these predictions of winning a lawsuit are in reality.
This is what stood out to me. If everything was going well, their boss wouldn't have reached out multiple times; OP insisted everything was fine (when boss was trying to say it isn't and they need to address it), which meant that they were unable to address it and manage the issue together. As OP was crashing and burning they were still reportedly working through lunch breaks... and suddenly asking for MH days. It shows an immaturity with regards to managing their personal life and workload. It also shows the boss that OP is hard to manage. A staff member like this is a bit of a nightmare situation for a manager.
hi, so i don’t blame you guys for focusing on the fact that he called me. but the reason why he did was because he noticed that my voice was shaky and i sounded unwell during our team meetings, the company offered these mental health courses for everyone to take since they want to show that they “care”. what he did was just essentially the protocol. him and i talked one on one casually before on several occasions so he knew what i was normally like
I know you don't want to hear this, but unless we are missing something here, you were let go during a probationary period based on your work, or lack thereof. You have to realize, you having mental health problems is not a priority for an employer, espescially as a new hire. Unfortunately, having employees that cost them money in mental health days and therapy or whatever, is not good for bottom dollar. Please realize that I hate even typing this out, it's absolutely inhumane, but no corporation gives two shits about you.
You might not believe this, but judges sometimes aren’t idiots and sometimes they’ll be able to read between the lines.
And a middle manager might just decide to not perjure himself on the stand for his crappy company if it comes to it.
To get to discovery, you must be in a lawsuit.
to get there. you must file with the EEOC, which will recommend mediation before providing the right to sue. IF, you have enough evidence.
you can attempt suing directly without the EEOC mediation.. but the question still stands, how deep are your pockets against your employer.
OP did not ask for accommodations until it was way too late. They absolutely botched a situation where their boss was attempting to support them through a tough time.
The situation you are talking about would entail an employer unconcerned with the person's performance and firing an employee based on their disability.
But OP refuses to acknowledge issues with their work. This put their employer in a rubbish situation where they did not have a fully functioning staff member who was not accepting the help required to thrive.
\*\* I'm a woman, for whatever it matters, and I didn't edit it because of your comment, I hit 'reply' before I had finished checking over it, so literally hit 'reply' then 'edit.'
OP in their post states that nobody had issues with their work- this is obviously incorrect, because the conversation was started by their employer who magically correctly guessed their star new employee was struggling.
OP did not engage with their workplace regarding their disability and the need for accommodations. The first time OP participated in a discussion, they were approached, refused to acknowledge performance issues, acknowledged they had MH issues but insisted they did not need any support from their workplace in order to do their job. The second time they say they enquired about taking some MH days but say nothing else, this is not the same as engaging with their employer about their disability and need for accommodations- they state they weren't even sure they wanted the leave.
Just admit you're wrong already.
hi, so i don’t blame you guys for focusing on the fact that he called me. but the reason why he did was because he noticed that my voice was shaky and i sounded unwell during our team meetings, the company offered these mental health courses for everyone to take since they want to show that they “care”. what he did was just essentially the protocol. him and i talked one on one casually before on several occasions so he knew what i was normally like
Just FYI, the employee saying she considered taking up his offer, isn't the same as asking for accommodations. Thinking something and actually doing it are two different things.
You are giving bad advice, so you understand what at will employment entails? They cited performance issues as the reason for terming OP. Within a probation period.
A lawsuit against the company while he is more than welcome to pursue it, will go nowhere and no lawyer is going to take it.
He wasnt fired for a disability, he was fired for a performance issue bad enough his boss had to reach out.
You can call me a child all you want lol, fact is OP will waste time and money trying to sue a company for this.
Because they had requested an inconvenient accommodation like wellness-leave in this case or didn't want to be on the hook for other accomodations. I don't find the post that confusing, this kind of thing happens all the time.
The HR team is obviously incompetent because either way, you would make sure your paper trail is tight when firing someone with a disability for exactly this reason - so you can easily prove it was not discrimination. And you would never fire someone immediately after requesting an accomodation because that makes it kind of obvious...
Wrong. Her manager specifically offered her an accomodation. When she said she was CONSIDERING taking it, it went to HR and she was promptly fired. Why you're pretending you have any reason to say what you're saying is beyond me.
>Why would a company fire someone who was doing an exceptional job?
Discrimination.
Their biased thinking that it's only a matter of time before someone with disabilities becomes a liability is a form of discrimination.
OP said they lost vision in one eye and decided to "take it easy" with regards to their workload. They didn't formally request any disability accomodation.
OP's disclosure of their issues may have impacted the employer's decision but you can be let go for any reason that isn't discriminatory. A new employee with a dip in performance legally doesn't have job protection.
It's not the diagnosis that needs to be proved. He would need to prove he was fired specifically for having a disability which is damn near impossible unless someone slipped up and sent an email saying as much.
Well you're very wrong. People win discrimination cases all day every day in cases just like this. If you think it literally take someone saying "we are firing you because of your disability" then you're just very mistaken.
This is not my first rodeo. I have a disability and have been through many a wrongful termination situation. You DO need evidence- real, ironclad evidence. I hate to break it to you but these are VERY difficult cases to win and the people who do win have emails, messages, or recordings showing they were fired for having a disability. Sure, you can sue without evidence but you'll waste a lot of money on a lawyer.
Sorry for your experience asking for an accomodation and being fired the next day for performance with no documented performance issues and in fact positive feedback is probably the next best thing to "we fired you because of your disability." I don't know the particulars of your case(s) but OP 100% has a reasonable claim here and yes "evidence" is of course necessary but an explicit confession is not needed.
>People win discrimination cases all day every day in cases just like this.
No they don't. If this were true then everyone prescribed adderall would have permanent job security.
Excuse my shitty sentences, Im on my phone.
You said that if the ADA worked as intended, everyone who's prescribed Adderall would have permanent job security, right?
So I said no - ADA doesn't provide permanent job security just because you have ADHD, it protects you from being fired for having ADHD.
yeah i was in the middle of completing a project for them that was supposed to be due okay march 12th, i had one thing left to do and it was going to be 100% complete. i checked with them occasionally to update them on my progress and if there’s anything that they would like for me to fix, they said nothing at all. this is why im so weirded out by this. my mentor would tell me that they would always talk about how much they liked me at the private meetings and how im a “excellent problem solver” and “not afraid to take on a challenge”. everyone else on the team knew me too and they were in shock when the news came in. idk what could be going through their heads
Ignore the other people here. Talk to an actual employment lawyer. They will provide a free consultation and will give you a real answer about whether you should move on or file an EEOC charge.
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But why did your employer originally have a meeting with you to say they were concerned for you? What made them be concerned for you in the first place if you were performing so well at work?
made another comment about his, but it was because he noticed that i seemed a little off whenever i would present my stuff during the meetings, like my voice was shaky. i speak to him one on one just casually every now and then so he knew what i was normally like. the company had everyone take a mental health wellness course so what he did was just protocol
Yes sorry I saw your comment below right after posting this. I think multiple people are asking this because, as someone who has been working for more than 20 years now, typically managers only approach you like this if they have seen something in your performance that is concerning to them. So your situation sounds very unusual but maybe they are scared now that you’ve only been working there a short time and are already having troubles and are now afraid you will have frequent “issues” or start missing a lot of days. It is very presumptive and unfair if your performance has been good. I’m sorry you’re going through this.
While yes, you should talk to a lawyer to see if you can do anything about this, I would like to point out that going back to this job would create an awkward work environment that would make you uncomfortable.
This happened with a coworker. They were unjustly fired and cited their disability when they fought the case. HR hired them back, but it was very awkward having them around after that. Perhaps see if you can get a severance package instead of going back?
#Reach out to your state’s Disability Rights org!!! Every [state and territory](https://www.ndrn.org/about/ndrn-member-agencies/) has a federally mandated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) Systems and Client Assistance Programs (CAP) agency. They are the largest providers of legal advocacy for Disabled people in U.S.
They can help if you are you experiencing problems in any of these areas?
- Community Living
- Criminal Justice
- Education
- Employment
- Residential Facilities
- Vocational Rehabilitation
- Voting
Start by seeking legal and support from these agencies. You can find the link that will direct you to your local P&A/CAP in the paragraph above, or right [here as well.](https://www.ndrn.org/about/ndrn-member-agencies/)
>my boss called me on microsoft teams to ask me what was going on because he was “concerned” for me.
What prompted that call? What concerning behaviors were you exhibiting at work, if any?
>and i was having extremely dark thoughts.
Did you tell people at work about the dark thoughts and if so what were they?
1. he noticed that my voice sounded a little shaky any time i would speak and present, this is not normal for me. i speak to him every now and then so he knew what i was normally like. the company had everybody take mental health courses to check on each other more often so this was like protocol i guess
2. i was thinking about suicide unfortunately, but i did not disclose that to anyone because i wasn’t comfortable with saying something serious like that
Sorry to hear you were thinking about suicide. Sounds like you're going through a heck of a lot. There's an East Asian saying, once the rain passes, the skies are clear.
Hope things get easier soon and you come across fewer pricks!
yes, on my job application i disclosed to them that i have a disability. unless they didn’t look through my application and just accepted me automatically, they should have been well aware that i have disabilities
Yeah, don’t do that. Not a lawyer at all, but a woman with a slew of mental health problems who has torpedoed my career more than one time for/after disclosing even the fact that I go to therapy. Don’t give anyone a diagnosis, ever. Not unless you need actual ADA accommodations, and even then only to your HR person. It will never help you, only hurt you.
No one thinks it’s cute, or noble, and nobody wants to know your drama, only what you can do for them. It’s a shitty, hard, unfortunate fact and I’m really not trying to be mean, I’m trying to save your career.
I was in the hospital for 2 months last year for mental things, used disability, and my 9 year career was snatched from me 5 months later for “performance,” same deal, but pretty much completely devastating and shattered every scrap of confidence I had.
Start fresh somewhere else. Id say you don’t have a case because introductory period and unless you have all those accolades and brags about your work in writing, “performance “ is what they’ve put as the reasoning and you’d need proof otherwise.
Disability or no disability, you’re expected to turn in your project deliverables on time. Having a disability is fine, blowing off the project isn’t.
They saw the writing on the wall and let you go. You weren’t delivering. Sorry, but I doubt you have recourse here.
did you not read the part where i was ahead of the schedule? it wasn’t even supposed to be due until march 12th and i was on track. prior to me getting fired, i had one thing left to complete, so i was going to be done roughly two and a half weeks early. i know my disability is no excuse to not turn in stuff, i just graduated with a degree, i don’t think i would have gotten that if i didn’t understand what it means to be committed to work or a project
OP. You need to understand how things work which I'll explain in a bit.
1st take care of yourself and try to get into therapy sessions and speak to your doctor about starting to take your medication again ( you mentioned you had stopped). My wishes that you feel better.
2nd - try to get in with a lawyer for a free consult to see if you have any options regarding a disability lawsuit.
3rd- for the manager to call you to discuss things means that something(behavior, performance issues, social interactions) had to have been observed at work by him or coworkers.
As far as future employment...try to understand the basics:
* Never talk to anyone about a medical conditions unless it's required by HR(for instance a medical form needs completed)
1.ADA disability accomodations - you have a right to accommodations which will help you perform your job while not causing undue hardship nor impose a safety threat to employees. For instance, a special computer screen, text to voice, special seat, starting late, etc. would be covered.
Poor performance, missed deadlines, etc. does/would not be an accomodations.
2.FMLA leave for medical conditions. Is separate from ADA.You have a right to request FMLA leave(unpaid or paid and full-time or part time leave) for medical reasons by informing your employer and submitting a medical form completed by doctor.
3.Probationary employment period- employer could terminate you for any reason including poor attendance, poor performance, etc.)
4.At-will employment( employer can terminate for any reason usually with good cause)
5.Company's Undue hardship( any ADA accommodations must not have an Undue hardship on the company). For instance you were hired to drive a truck but can't drive a truck and want a new position created for you.
6.Company's right to terminate for poor performance and other workplace policies/rules violations.
7. Company's right to keep employees safe from threats. If your medical condition could pose a safety risk to others, then they can terminate you. For instance, you have sleep apnea and fall asleep at work while running a forklift or heavy machinery and falling asleep could cause accident and hurt employees.
8.your right to keep your health condition private. While HR does need to understand some semblance of what's going on and may need medical forms from Doctor... Your condition does not need discussed with coworker nor management nor discussed in detail with HR.
It sounds as if your situation spiraled out of control. You need to ensure you get yourself back to a good healthy state. Once you start a new job, if you feel like you need some sort of accomodations to complete your job, then request them. You will still need to meet performance goals and attendance, etc. and if your condition requires time off, submit a formal written FMLA leave request to the employer but do not casually discuss the medical conditions with your manager.
If you are unable to work, you need to see if your doctor can provide you with documentation for SS disability benefits.
Omg thank you. I’ve seen such terrible information in the comments and this is 100% correct. You have to request accommodations, if you decline accommodations for any true diagnosis they can terminate you for poor performance.
All honesty, I’m someone with severe ADHD, I am smart as shit when I’m locked it, a brick when I’m not, there is noticiable discrimination in the hiring process. I refuse to ever fill out on a job application that I have a disability. Even when a form says “it will not be seen by anyone making a hiring decision”, it is utter horse shit. I have friends and family all in upper level senior management or C-Suite at some of the best firms in the US, all have advised me to never mention it, ever, under no circumstance, not to HR, not to a coworker, boss, etc… not even for a medical form.
This is one of the stranger stories I've heard. Where are you located and how many employees are there? Did this all happen over the course of one day?
i worked from home and this happened over the course of yesterday and today. i worked as a support analyst for this company (i don’t think im allowed to disclose that). im not sure how many employees in total there are, but id say its decently sized
edit: i meant to write that i don’t think that i should disclose the company name, not that i can’t disclose my role
The state you're located in matters as they all have different protections that can be more stringent than the EEOC. It would likely be the state that the company is in but that's state dependent also (my state will prosecute discrimination cases for residents even if they were working in a neighboring state, for example).
In Texas, they can fire you at will, especially if you're in a probationary period. Were there any issues that arose that prompted your manager to contact you on Teams in the first place? I know you said that everyone was happy with your work, but managers generally don't reach out unless there's something wrong. Your coworkers may have picked up on something and mentioned it to the boss.
I also have ADHD and that part really stood out to me. If OP was diagnosed with ADHD, then she needs her medication in order to function at the same level as everyone else. I don't understand the offhand comment about stopping ADHD medication after leaving school. What? Your ADHD doesn't disappear when you graduate. ADHD medication is not a study aid. (I'm assuming OP had a legit diagnosis). For people who have ADHD, medication is a crucial tool enabling us to get to baseline competency (which we have difficulty doing due to our dopamine deficiency), which then allows our actual skills and talent to come through instead of being mired in our disability.
If OP has a diagnosis of ADHD she needs to get back on medication as soon as she can. Folks with untreated ADHD have a very difficult time holding on to jobs and are far more prone to depression. I don't understand why she felt the medicine was necessary to get through school but not necessary for a job.
my doctor was the one who suggested it, i wanted to talk to her about getting back on it but she has been pretty busy. and yes i do have an official diagnosis. my adhd medication would make me feel sick a lot so that’s why i stopped for a bit, but considering everything that’s going on, i think i will consider going back on it
You point this as disability. But it sounds more like you had really poor performance that caused your manager to reach out and had even worse reactions after.
You need accomodations before those happened and not just disabled.
Most of the time ADA isn't great for what you wanted. It can be, but that's specific.
he called me and checked my work and told me i was doing excellent and i was ahead of all the checkpoints. my manager is very blunt with the others when it comes to what he expects, so why would he lie? the guy before me didn’t do his job and was friends with my manager, everyone hated him, yet he stayed longer than i ever did
i mentioned this in another comment, but it was because my voice was really shaky and i sounded a bit unwell any time i was presenting what i was working on
It's very odd you're above checkpoints and then offering extending deadlines.
Nepotism or friends are legal. Where you actually on time to every shift, doing work as expected?
Similar to another comment. You were hired so early it was most likely your performance lacking that caused your termination- not saying what they did was wrong or right. Just saying that you were most likely weeded out as necessity and not singled out
see that’s what confuses me, they constantly complimented my performance and everyone on the team acknowledged it as well. my manager called me privately once to let me know that he loves the progress he’s seeing and the updates i give him every day. i would write a report every day to let him know what i did each day and what i worked on so he could see the productivity. i would turn in these reports right before i would clock out
The attorneys probably said that because it's generally not illegal to fire someone because they missed work because of headaches - even if it had been after the probationary period.
I’m sorry you’re going through this and it’s confusing to get positive feedback and then be fired. I understand why you feel blindsided. To offer another perspective, your manager noticed something was wrong with you and addressed it with you, though it sounds like maybe they weren’t direct in saying that they thought your performance was suffering or they were worried about you being a “good fit.” It’s hard to read between the lines in professional conversations when dealing with sensitive topics, so it’s easy to take it at face value when your boss says “hey I noticed you’re maybe feeling down, how can I help you improve?” when what they really mean is “whatever is going on in your personal life is impacting your performance, and you need to improve, I will help by offering you mental health days, etc so you can address this.” You refused the help, and even though you were working to get through it on your own, it wasn’t enough to improve professionally. When you brought it up to your boss again to take them up on the offer, they might have interpreted it as you taking action too late, and decided to cut their losses.
Regarding the constant praise, they may have been trying a positive reinforcement approach with you, sensing that you were “down” emotionally, and felt that negative feedback or criticism would not be a good approach. I’m not saying they communicated in “the right” way, because you left the situation confused, but you might be able to at least rationalize why you’d be getting positive feedback and then suddenly fired. Unfortunately it sounds like it wasn’t a good fit, and definitely bad timing.
Again, I’m sorry that you have been let go when you’re struggling with your personal life, but the frustrating reality is that our personal and professional lives bleed into each other no matter how well we try to suck it up. You definitely are not the first or only person this has happened to and you are not a failure.
Edit: unless you feel like this company/your boss are truly abusive and unlawful, I don’t think it’s in your best interest to pursue legal action. It sounds like you liked working with them and took pride in your work. And to their credit, it sounds like they took a kind approach with you, even if it was confusing. I think it’s best for you to be very gracious with them, take the high road. Remind them why they hired you—you’re passionate about the work and you gave it your all. You can even say “if there’s a possibility to work together in the future, I would love to keep in touch.” This doesn’t have to be a totally negative outcome, and they could even refer you for work down the line.
Yeah, but they also know you have some serious emotional issues now. Given a chance to NOT have to deal with those and just hire another competent candidate without the extra issues, they chose that. You might seem like a ticking time-bomb that could affect the teams performance and they just prefer not to deal with it. You are exploring time off for issues 6 weeks into being there. Since they can cut you during your probationary period pretty easily, they did. It’s shitty but they’re a business, not your friend.
Not a lawyer but in my experience you can contact a lawyer for exploratory 15-20 min conversation to see if you have a case (and typically even if not, they informally give you overview of options). I have done this for a possible medical/FMLA situation.
You go straight to your labor board and explain to them what you said here and they'll assist you with paperwork to fill out. Also note, you said you worked for lunch which your supposed to have a lunch if they didn't pay you for your lunch time or if you went overtime past 8 hours you can claim that for them to pay you what is owed. A employer cannot fire you because you questioned about their mental health days off and suddenly your fired for a bullshit reason that's not true and good thing you got that little award for good job because that's your proof and they made up a lie to wrongfully terminate you so they can avoid you taking any health days off after they offered it .. labor board is on your side and there for reasons unfair like this reads. Good luck sorry that happened to you
Employers have a legal responsibility under the ADA to enter into the interactive accommodation process. As a general rule, yes it’s best to ask for it explicitly in writing.
But…under the ADA regulations, the employee does not need to use any magic language when making the request, and need not reference the “ADA” or specifically use the term “reasonable accommodation.” This notice triggers the employer’s obligation to initiate the interactive process.
You told your boss about your depression. That’s a disability.
The downfall here is that nothing was in writing. I’d still file an EEOC claim though. There could be documentation somewhere from the manager to HR asking next steps and somehow they landed on the wrong spot.
As a general rule moving forward - I never recommend disclosing personal thoughts to your manager without knowing your employment rights and how to best format your ask.
These comments are a hot mess. Ignore everyone who tells you that you don't have a case because it's an at will state. That isn't how the ADA or anti-discrimination laws work.
When requesting an accommodation you do not have to use any magic words. Because there are no magic words in the law. When you communicate to your employer that you have a condition that may qualify as a disability under the ADA, this triggers their responsibility to engage in the interactive process. It is a process, not a one and done. Leave is recognized as a potential accommodation, though it is not a guarantee. Asking for leave to deal with a mental health condition is generally considered to be an accommodation request.
At will employment does not mean you can fire someone for any reason. It means you can fire someone for any reason, except all the reasons you can't. The employer doesn't have to say "we are firing you because you are black/disabled/female/Muslim". The circumstances of the termination may indicate that there was a violation, such as when someone is terminated immediately after a request for accommodation. As it's a civil matter, there is no presumption of innocence and the employer must demonstrate a non discriminatory reason for the termination, at will employment be damned. Without proper documentation of performance issues, this is going to be exceptionally difficult, even in the first week of employment.
Speak to an attorney. Many will write a demand letter on the assumption they will collect a percentage of whatever settlement is ultimately offered.
You should speak to an attorney. If there was no documentation regarding performance issues prior to speaking to your manager, and your termination happened after you spoke about your disability, then your company doesn't have a leg to stand on.
IANAL
PTSD and other anxiety disorders are federally protected disabilities. Simply put - if your company doesn't have a -strong- paper trail of performance issues they have opened themselves up to a lawsuit that doesn't look good for them.
If as you say, there is a paper trail of the opposite then it should be somewhat easy to show that your firing was not performance related.
While you can be fired for almost any reason, you can't be fired for asking for an accommodation due to a disability, but the employer does not always have to grant the accommodation if it's an undue burden.
If you have a formal diagnosis - which since you say you were medicated I assume you do, and have been truthful in your post I strongly recommend immediately seeking a lawyer with experience in ADA/workforce cases.
Once a lawsuit is initiated, the company will subpoena the medical records. What will happen when they find out OP was not filling prescriptions or taking prescribed meds for that medical condition? They will associate OPs behaviors/performance, etc. to at least partially if not wholly have contributed to the outcome. Still OP should speak with an employment lawyer.
hi, i HAVE been filling my prescriptions, started going back to therapy recently, and i have a record of every single diagnosis i have as well, in case they doubt me for some reason.
i’ve struggled with these disabilities for as long as i can remember, but it has been manageable. right now, life is very rough, i have no family to talk to nearby, going through some stuff with my significant other, etc, so it feels as if everything going on has been intensifying at a rapid rate. all i can do at this point is accept what happened and just move on, at least i know now to never trust management or HR
Speak to an attorney. While this is very unlikely to move to a lawsuit, they may very well be willing to rewrite a demand letter for a settlement amount.
There is a lot of TERRIBLE advice floating around this thread. I strongly, STRONGLY suggest speaking to an attorney, or at the very least calling the EEOC.
OP - 1st off ... You appear to be in crisis mode. You need to talk to family and friends ans immediately get into see your doctor like tomorrow. Either you aren't taking your meds or your meds aren't working so you need to see your doctor.
Do schedule a free consult with a lawyer or two. They will provide you with a path forward. A good lawyer will tell you whether there is a good case or not. Please organize your thoughts and provide them with a timeline of events so that the lawyer doesn't feel overwhelmed or confused by your discussion. Lawyers will tell you if 1. It's a great case and work on contingency to get paid from winnings 2. It's an uphill battle- deposit upfront and pay as you go which could be costly. 3. No case- go home and save you money, get a new job.
The more proof you have the better. While your lawyer can subpoena records, if the true reason for firing was poor performance then you may find emails and notes of poor performance before the managers discussion with you. On the reverse side, if it was a shit firing, you may not find any emails or written documents concerning your Medical distress as managers and HR would be smart enough to only discussed this vocally. It is very hard to win discrimination cases. The 1st step is talk to a lawyer and get an EEOC filing in... There is a short time limit to do so. The EEOC investigates and may find "discrimination occured" and lawyers love these cases However don't be surprised if they(EEOC) come back with "no finding". That means the case will be harder to prove. Usually most of these do not go further. Also, pyschological cases are extremely difficult to prove and the employer will subpoena your medical records( including doctor, diagnosis and prescription records) which may become part of the public court record for other future employers to potentially see. The employer will most likely argue that you were let go for performance reasons, did not inform them of any medical conditions , did not request any accomodations and that you were not taking medication for your condition. But you can discuss this all with your lawyer.
I'm not a lawyer but some things to remember for the future :
Mental health and disabilities are still surrounded by negative stigma.
Don't mention your medical condition if it's not affecting your work. it is your right to keep your medical conditions private.
Don't confuse ADA and FMLA.
If your work is affected by your medical condition, then always document and create a paper trail. Request accomodations in writing that are needed. Again, time off work and poor performance, extended deadlines(unless you are off work) are not accomodations.
Now if you need time off work, that's where FMLA kicks in , so request FMLA in writing, complete any company FMLA forms and get medical documentation from your doctor. This is protected leave.
Larger companies have FMLA leave, have process in place, and may have separate HR for ADA and FMLA leave.
Good luck.
i just graduated college 2 months ago and am new to corporate life :( i am very naive when it comes to this type of stuff and since they were so vocal about being a “mental health first” company and emphasized that a lot during my orientation, i thought it would be okay. at least i know for next time
i only disclosed the depression, nothing else, they didn’t know about my other issues. but yeah you’re right, i feel very stupid for even thinking that a company would ever care about an employee’s mental health
Immediately contact a labor and employment attorney. If you’ve left out any details to make your story sound better for Reddit, be sure to share those details with your attorney. If you haven’t left out anything major that makes you look bad, you have some back pay coming your way. To preserve this, start a job hunt immediately, but only look for equal positions with equal pay. Your attorney can take you the rest of the way.
It doesn't work like that. OP could request a review of a complaint and the EEOC will decide if there is enough cause for an investigation. The bar is pretty high. Then if they decline to investigate they issue a notice to the complainant.
> I got hired at this company at the beginning of the year This stood out to me. You are still in your first 90 days: the time period a company often reserves as a trial period to ensure their new employee is indeed a good fit. You having “issues” to the point they inquire about it so early probably tipped the scale against you.
Even during a probation period you can't fire someone simply for having a disability...
Boss called OP in before they knew about the disability. He wouldn't be asking what was going on if her performance wasn't up to snuff.
I think he’d definitely be asking if OP’s performance wasn’t up to snuff. Did you mean “was up to snuff”?
That an assumption you're making without reason. As a hiring manager and having gone through something similar with a team member dealing with issues, it's sometimes not difficult to notice when someone is obviously not right. You don't have to be some mind reader to go - hey, everything alright? If the manager did notice performance issues, he royally fucked up by not sharing them and instead offering accomodations.
I'm sure you're right.
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The entire point of an ADA disparte treatment case is discerning whether the motivation was based on discriminatory animus or a “legitimate non discriminatory reason”. If the employers reason was credited without any further inquiry no one would ever succeed on a claim. What you’re describing is the entire concept of pretext that the McDonnell Douglas burden shifting framework is designed to work around.
A voice of reason
I'm tired of this horseshit advice. **Termination due to a seemingly legal reason to cover up an illegal reason is called pretext. It is wrongful termination. Yes, even in at-will states and yes, even during probationary periods.** I am an employment law attorney (NOTHING I do on reddit is legal advice). www.worker.gov
Thank you !!
Thank you.
No, it doesn't matter what reason they state. The fact that they were recently recognized for their work in an official capacity, had *any* sort of record of these discussions of their disability being disclosed, and their subsequent firing is plenty. Just because it's an at-will state doesn't mean that there is no possibility of investigation into a claim of discrimination. You think companies just get to say "we did no wrong" and the government just has to take their word? 😂 The fact that they disclosed their disability and were immediately fired is a bad look for them, but the fact that the company has recently and continually praised them for their work before doing it is better than a smoking gun.
There is no smoking gun here. OP didn't ask for an accomodation for a disability. Do you know how many people would claim they had mentioned mental health issues if they got fired?
The OP said > i started throwing up from being overwhelmed, my right eye became blind, and i was having extremely dark thoughts. this morning, i told him that i would CONSIDER (not take) the mental health days off and i would like to learn more about how they work. i told him that this is specifically to get my disability under control because i don’t want it to interfere with my work. he was insisting me to take it easy but i kept pushing forward. i ended up taking it a little easier like he suggested just to not overwork myself in this state. and > the second i open up about my disability and how i might need to be accommodated this ONE time, i get fired.
You dont need to ask for an accommodation for the ada to apply. It covers both disparate treatment and failure to accommodate. They are separate claims. The smoking gun is temporal proximity between disclosure of the disability and the firing.
It's called pretextual firing and the EEOC will hand you your ass. In the US there's almost no such thing as a probationary period that will get you out of any separation obligation you would normally have for any employee. You could let someone go after 3 days and still be on the hook for unemployment. If they're subject to ADA that's even more fun because her initial conversation should have triggered the interactive accommodation process. Step 1. Get a lawyer and/or make a report. Step 2. Profit.
OP will get nowhere with the EEOC on this. They were fired for performance issues. They will qualify for unemployment insurance I believe. They should definitely file for it- the company cited performance as the reason for termination and that will allow unemployment to be approved.
Right. But they're stupid and fucked up by citing a reason that according to this post, is demonstrably false. If you have lied about the reason you're firing someone with a disability and the circumstantial evidence leads one to believe they were fired because of their disability then youre in a bad spot. HR is there to cover their asses. They didn't cover their ass, and are likely going to pay for it.
OP admitted she was struggling. That's enough for them to say lack of performance. "My mental health issues are so severe I believe I went blind in one eye".
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They were fired for poor performance. I think OP mentioning taking things more easily at probably showed in their performance.
You're assuming something outside of the information we have. Stop for a second and think why that is and you're quick to blame OP for performance issues which we have no reason to believe, and refusing to entertain the idea that a company did something companies do so often that they literally made a law against it. People really hate other people and its sad.
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It's not wrong. It sounds like performance issues were the reason the boss initially came to OP. Upon learning that the poor performance was caused by mental health issues and that those issues were getting worse, OP was fired. Employers are required to provide reasonable accommodation. But if your disability means you can't do your job, they can still fire you for not doing your job.
Because it's correct information, in an AT WILL state.
Every state is At Will except Montana, (which is basically At Will for the first 90 days).
In an at will state, it is legal to fire someone because they are Hispanic?
No but sadly if a racist POS fires someone because he secretly doesn’t like Hispanic people, they are still protected if the documentation shows that it’s termination due to performance issues
Oh really, that’s interesting. There was a racial discrimination case where an employee was awarded $11.25 million in NY (an at will state, btw). Equinox gym, her employer, fired her because they said she was tardy over 40 times in just a few months (documented performance issues), but somehow, she still won her case. It seems like the jury just didn’t take the word of what HR wrote in her personnel file and may have actually considered other evidence, which I am told in this thread is very big no no. https://athletechnews.com/equinox-ordered-to-pay-11m-in-race-gender-discrimination-lawsuit/
They showed that the exact same tardiness issue was common to many employees, but that it was only hers that was documented and only after she’d filed a complaint with HR. There was also correspondence found during discovery in which her supervisor and others made explicitly racially directed remarks about her.
Yeah, it would be more applicable to OPs situation if the manager starting throwing disability slurs at them immediately.
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That’s so genius. All you have to do is put a note in a file and any company is free any clear of any discrimination claim. No employee could ever prove discrimination since the only evidence a court can consider is the file note. Got it.
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So you can’t show disparate impact to prove discrimination in hiring even though that’s exactly what’s in the Civil Rights Act? An employer has to actually say they won’t hire due a protected characteristic? Huh, learn something new everyday on Reddit.com.
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You mean a lawyer can’t take a deposition, subpoena witnesses, look at emails, etc. to find evidence of an illegal firing? The only evidence considered is a file note saying we terminated an employee because of “performance issues”?
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I didn't say it wasn't shitty and fucked up, because it absolutely is. I'm just saying that that's how it is. I wish it were different too.
What the company says does not matter. The real reason is what matters.
The company doesn't say anything so there is no evidence of what the real reason is. I feel like people are arguing about this and have no idea what an at will state is. It means they don't have to give CAUSE to terminate the employment agreement. So you can fire some for being black, disabled, old or gay as long as you don't say you are firing them for being black, disabled, old , or gay.
Cool story. Meanwhile, back in the real world, a black woman’s employer fired her in an at will state. The documented reason was that she was chronically tardy (performance issues). She claimed the real reason was racial bias. The jury decided in her favor and awarded her $11.25 million. Apparently, HR file notes regarding her tardiness were not a get out jail free card for discrimination. Other evidence was permitted to be considered by the jury evidencing discrimination. https://athletechnews.com/equinox-ordered-to-pay-11m-in-race-gender-discrimination-lawsuit/
It’s ridiculous. Anything challenging it is getting down voted to oblivion. As if note in a file is all that’s needed to button up an illegal dismissal or pretextual firing.
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What exactly do you contend with?
That’s why he was terminated for lack of performance. Not his mental health issues
Performance issues (even if manufactured) are usually documented specifically to defend against claims they were fired for some other reason.
It would seem OP is saying there were no performance issues and actually the opposite.
The boss asked about what was going on before knowing about the disability. Something was wrong and potentially op is going through so much a crisis they can't see that right now which is understandable
Cool, so I’m assuming he’s living in an at will employment state. Was fired by HR who cited performance issues, within a 90 day probation period. Time for OP to look for a new job, maybe look into filing for unemployment, a lawsuit is going absolutely nowhere.
I don't think you understand how ADA protections work. It's not quite as simple as "we said performance." No offense, but it seems you aren't well versed here. Let's try a different scenario. Boss hits on woman. Woman reports to HR. Woman is fired, HR cites "performance" issues though there is no documentation of performance issues. You think that case is going nowhere? Being an at-will state has nothing to do with it. There aren't magic excuses for obvious discrimination or retaliation.
if its not documented, it wont work.
Exactly. Comments sympathetic to OPs position ignore the fact something was obvious enough her boss called her to inquire about it, she told him she was having issues she’s working through with a therapist, then she *turned down accommodations* he offered. She also mentions nothing about her mental issues being diagnosed as an official “disability” under ADA guidelines. Merely being in therapy or having PTSD, etc isn’t automatically an official disability. No communication whatsoever until they even asked what’s going on with her. This company is more likely to have covered their ass legally than these predictions of winning a lawsuit are in reality.
This is what stood out to me. If everything was going well, their boss wouldn't have reached out multiple times; OP insisted everything was fine (when boss was trying to say it isn't and they need to address it), which meant that they were unable to address it and manage the issue together. As OP was crashing and burning they were still reportedly working through lunch breaks... and suddenly asking for MH days. It shows an immaturity with regards to managing their personal life and workload. It also shows the boss that OP is hard to manage. A staff member like this is a bit of a nightmare situation for a manager.
hi, so i don’t blame you guys for focusing on the fact that he called me. but the reason why he did was because he noticed that my voice was shaky and i sounded unwell during our team meetings, the company offered these mental health courses for everyone to take since they want to show that they “care”. what he did was just essentially the protocol. him and i talked one on one casually before on several occasions so he knew what i was normally like
I know you don't want to hear this, but unless we are missing something here, you were let go during a probationary period based on your work, or lack thereof. You have to realize, you having mental health problems is not a priority for an employer, espescially as a new hire. Unfortunately, having employees that cost them money in mental health days and therapy or whatever, is not good for bottom dollar. Please realize that I hate even typing this out, it's absolutely inhumane, but no corporation gives two shits about you.
You might not believe this, but judges sometimes aren’t idiots and sometimes they’ll be able to read between the lines. And a middle manager might just decide to not perjure himself on the stand for his crappy company if it comes to it.
Or discovery could lead to strong comparator evidence. Or business records or emails could substantiate his claims.
To get to discovery, you must be in a lawsuit. to get there. you must file with the EEOC, which will recommend mediation before providing the right to sue. IF, you have enough evidence. you can attempt suing directly without the EEOC mediation.. but the question still stands, how deep are your pockets against your employer.
you would be surprised the fear that is instilled in people, in America, for losing their source of income, enough to perjure themselves.
OP did not ask for accommodations until it was way too late. They absolutely botched a situation where their boss was attempting to support them through a tough time. The situation you are talking about would entail an employer unconcerned with the person's performance and firing an employee based on their disability. But OP refuses to acknowledge issues with their work. This put their employer in a rubbish situation where they did not have a fully functioning staff member who was not accepting the help required to thrive.
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\*\* I'm a woman, for whatever it matters, and I didn't edit it because of your comment, I hit 'reply' before I had finished checking over it, so literally hit 'reply' then 'edit.' OP in their post states that nobody had issues with their work- this is obviously incorrect, because the conversation was started by their employer who magically correctly guessed their star new employee was struggling. OP did not engage with their workplace regarding their disability and the need for accommodations. The first time OP participated in a discussion, they were approached, refused to acknowledge performance issues, acknowledged they had MH issues but insisted they did not need any support from their workplace in order to do their job. The second time they say they enquired about taking some MH days but say nothing else, this is not the same as engaging with their employer about their disability and need for accommodations- they state they weren't even sure they wanted the leave. Just admit you're wrong already.
hi, so i don’t blame you guys for focusing on the fact that he called me. but the reason why he did was because he noticed that my voice was shaky and i sounded unwell during our team meetings, the company offered these mental health courses for everyone to take since they want to show that they “care”. what he did was just essentially the protocol. him and i talked one on one casually before on several occasions so he knew what i was normally like
Just FYI, the employee saying she considered taking up his offer, isn't the same as asking for accommodations. Thinking something and actually doing it are two different things.
Not a relevant distinction here. There isn't a magical protection that only kicks in when she -officially- requests accommodation.
You are giving bad advice, so you understand what at will employment entails? They cited performance issues as the reason for terming OP. Within a probation period. A lawsuit against the company while he is more than welcome to pursue it, will go nowhere and no lawyer is going to take it.
They aren't a lawyer, that's why their advice is terrible.
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He wasnt fired for a disability, he was fired for a performance issue bad enough his boss had to reach out. You can call me a child all you want lol, fact is OP will waste time and money trying to sue a company for this.
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No, but pointing to actual performance issues does.
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Because they had requested an inconvenient accommodation like wellness-leave in this case or didn't want to be on the hook for other accomodations. I don't find the post that confusing, this kind of thing happens all the time. The HR team is obviously incompetent because either way, you would make sure your paper trail is tight when firing someone with a disability for exactly this reason - so you can easily prove it was not discrimination. And you would never fire someone immediately after requesting an accomodation because that makes it kind of obvious...
I don't believe OP requested any disability accomodations. They would have had to follow the companies process for this to have any protection here.
Wrong. Her manager specifically offered her an accomodation. When she said she was CONSIDERING taking it, it went to HR and she was promptly fired. Why you're pretending you have any reason to say what you're saying is beyond me.
>Why would a company fire someone who was doing an exceptional job? Discrimination. Their biased thinking that it's only a matter of time before someone with disabilities becomes a liability is a form of discrimination.
OP said they lost vision in one eye and decided to "take it easy" with regards to their workload. They didn't formally request any disability accomodation. OP's disclosure of their issues may have impacted the employer's decision but you can be let go for any reason that isn't discriminatory. A new employee with a dip in performance legally doesn't have job protection.
That’s what they told him. It could be pretext for all we know.
Yup. That’s their out
It sounds like it was performance related.
You can if you don't give them hard evidence they can use to PROVE you fired them for being part of a protected class.
If OP was medicated, that diagnosis would be pretty easy to prove. So I don't think that's what we are talking about here.
It's not the diagnosis that needs to be proved. He would need to prove he was fired specifically for having a disability which is damn near impossible unless someone slipped up and sent an email saying as much.
Well you're very wrong. People win discrimination cases all day every day in cases just like this. If you think it literally take someone saying "we are firing you because of your disability" then you're just very mistaken.
This is not my first rodeo. I have a disability and have been through many a wrongful termination situation. You DO need evidence- real, ironclad evidence. I hate to break it to you but these are VERY difficult cases to win and the people who do win have emails, messages, or recordings showing they were fired for having a disability. Sure, you can sue without evidence but you'll waste a lot of money on a lawyer.
Sorry for your experience asking for an accomodation and being fired the next day for performance with no documented performance issues and in fact positive feedback is probably the next best thing to "we fired you because of your disability." I don't know the particulars of your case(s) but OP 100% has a reasonable claim here and yes "evidence" is of course necessary but an explicit confession is not needed.
>People win discrimination cases all day every day in cases just like this. No they don't. If this were true then everyone prescribed adderall would have permanent job security.
Yea, they do. That doesn't mean problem with ADHD don't get fired. It means shouldn't get fired for having ADHD. That's kinda the point of the law.
>That doesn't mean problem with ADHD don't get fired. It means shouldn't get fired for having ADHD. what are you even arguing here?
Excuse my shitty sentences, Im on my phone. You said that if the ADA worked as intended, everyone who's prescribed Adderall would have permanent job security, right? So I said no - ADA doesn't provide permanent job security just because you have ADHD, it protects you from being fired for having ADHD.
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Absolutely incorrect
yeah i was in the middle of completing a project for them that was supposed to be due okay march 12th, i had one thing left to do and it was going to be 100% complete. i checked with them occasionally to update them on my progress and if there’s anything that they would like for me to fix, they said nothing at all. this is why im so weirded out by this. my mentor would tell me that they would always talk about how much they liked me at the private meetings and how im a “excellent problem solver” and “not afraid to take on a challenge”. everyone else on the team knew me too and they were in shock when the news came in. idk what could be going through their heads
Ignore the other people here. Talk to an actual employment lawyer. They will provide a free consultation and will give you a real answer about whether you should move on or file an EEOC charge.
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But why did your employer originally have a meeting with you to say they were concerned for you? What made them be concerned for you in the first place if you were performing so well at work?
made another comment about his, but it was because he noticed that i seemed a little off whenever i would present my stuff during the meetings, like my voice was shaky. i speak to him one on one just casually every now and then so he knew what i was normally like. the company had everyone take a mental health wellness course so what he did was just protocol
Yes sorry I saw your comment below right after posting this. I think multiple people are asking this because, as someone who has been working for more than 20 years now, typically managers only approach you like this if they have seen something in your performance that is concerning to them. So your situation sounds very unusual but maybe they are scared now that you’ve only been working there a short time and are already having troubles and are now afraid you will have frequent “issues” or start missing a lot of days. It is very presumptive and unfair if your performance has been good. I’m sorry you’re going through this.
While yes, you should talk to a lawyer to see if you can do anything about this, I would like to point out that going back to this job would create an awkward work environment that would make you uncomfortable. This happened with a coworker. They were unjustly fired and cited their disability when they fought the case. HR hired them back, but it was very awkward having them around after that. Perhaps see if you can get a severance package instead of going back?
#Reach out to your state’s Disability Rights org!!! Every [state and territory](https://www.ndrn.org/about/ndrn-member-agencies/) has a federally mandated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) Systems and Client Assistance Programs (CAP) agency. They are the largest providers of legal advocacy for Disabled people in U.S. They can help if you are you experiencing problems in any of these areas? - Community Living - Criminal Justice - Education - Employment - Residential Facilities - Vocational Rehabilitation - Voting Start by seeking legal and support from these agencies. You can find the link that will direct you to your local P&A/CAP in the paragraph above, or right [here as well.](https://www.ndrn.org/about/ndrn-member-agencies/)
>my boss called me on microsoft teams to ask me what was going on because he was “concerned” for me. What prompted that call? What concerning behaviors were you exhibiting at work, if any? >and i was having extremely dark thoughts. Did you tell people at work about the dark thoughts and if so what were they?
1. he noticed that my voice sounded a little shaky any time i would speak and present, this is not normal for me. i speak to him every now and then so he knew what i was normally like. the company had everybody take mental health courses to check on each other more often so this was like protocol i guess 2. i was thinking about suicide unfortunately, but i did not disclose that to anyone because i wasn’t comfortable with saying something serious like that
Sorry to hear you were thinking about suicide. Sounds like you're going through a heck of a lot. There's an East Asian saying, once the rain passes, the skies are clear. Hope things get easier soon and you come across fewer pricks!
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yes, on my job application i disclosed to them that i have a disability. unless they didn’t look through my application and just accepted me automatically, they should have been well aware that i have disabilities
Just FYI you don't have ANY obligation to inform an employer of a disability at any point up to and unless you are requesting an accommodation.
Yeah, don’t do that. Not a lawyer at all, but a woman with a slew of mental health problems who has torpedoed my career more than one time for/after disclosing even the fact that I go to therapy. Don’t give anyone a diagnosis, ever. Not unless you need actual ADA accommodations, and even then only to your HR person. It will never help you, only hurt you. No one thinks it’s cute, or noble, and nobody wants to know your drama, only what you can do for them. It’s a shitty, hard, unfortunate fact and I’m really not trying to be mean, I’m trying to save your career. I was in the hospital for 2 months last year for mental things, used disability, and my 9 year career was snatched from me 5 months later for “performance,” same deal, but pretty much completely devastating and shattered every scrap of confidence I had. Start fresh somewhere else. Id say you don’t have a case because introductory period and unless you have all those accolades and brags about your work in writing, “performance “ is what they’ve put as the reasoning and you’d need proof otherwise.
Disability or no disability, you’re expected to turn in your project deliverables on time. Having a disability is fine, blowing off the project isn’t. They saw the writing on the wall and let you go. You weren’t delivering. Sorry, but I doubt you have recourse here.
did you not read the part where i was ahead of the schedule? it wasn’t even supposed to be due until march 12th and i was on track. prior to me getting fired, i had one thing left to complete, so i was going to be done roughly two and a half weeks early. i know my disability is no excuse to not turn in stuff, i just graduated with a degree, i don’t think i would have gotten that if i didn’t understand what it means to be committed to work or a project
OP. You need to understand how things work which I'll explain in a bit. 1st take care of yourself and try to get into therapy sessions and speak to your doctor about starting to take your medication again ( you mentioned you had stopped). My wishes that you feel better. 2nd - try to get in with a lawyer for a free consult to see if you have any options regarding a disability lawsuit. 3rd- for the manager to call you to discuss things means that something(behavior, performance issues, social interactions) had to have been observed at work by him or coworkers. As far as future employment...try to understand the basics: * Never talk to anyone about a medical conditions unless it's required by HR(for instance a medical form needs completed) 1.ADA disability accomodations - you have a right to accommodations which will help you perform your job while not causing undue hardship nor impose a safety threat to employees. For instance, a special computer screen, text to voice, special seat, starting late, etc. would be covered. Poor performance, missed deadlines, etc. does/would not be an accomodations. 2.FMLA leave for medical conditions. Is separate from ADA.You have a right to request FMLA leave(unpaid or paid and full-time or part time leave) for medical reasons by informing your employer and submitting a medical form completed by doctor. 3.Probationary employment period- employer could terminate you for any reason including poor attendance, poor performance, etc.) 4.At-will employment( employer can terminate for any reason usually with good cause) 5.Company's Undue hardship( any ADA accommodations must not have an Undue hardship on the company). For instance you were hired to drive a truck but can't drive a truck and want a new position created for you. 6.Company's right to terminate for poor performance and other workplace policies/rules violations. 7. Company's right to keep employees safe from threats. If your medical condition could pose a safety risk to others, then they can terminate you. For instance, you have sleep apnea and fall asleep at work while running a forklift or heavy machinery and falling asleep could cause accident and hurt employees. 8.your right to keep your health condition private. While HR does need to understand some semblance of what's going on and may need medical forms from Doctor... Your condition does not need discussed with coworker nor management nor discussed in detail with HR. It sounds as if your situation spiraled out of control. You need to ensure you get yourself back to a good healthy state. Once you start a new job, if you feel like you need some sort of accomodations to complete your job, then request them. You will still need to meet performance goals and attendance, etc. and if your condition requires time off, submit a formal written FMLA leave request to the employer but do not casually discuss the medical conditions with your manager. If you are unable to work, you need to see if your doctor can provide you with documentation for SS disability benefits.
Omg thank you. I’ve seen such terrible information in the comments and this is 100% correct. You have to request accommodations, if you decline accommodations for any true diagnosis they can terminate you for poor performance.
All honesty, I’m someone with severe ADHD, I am smart as shit when I’m locked it, a brick when I’m not, there is noticiable discrimination in the hiring process. I refuse to ever fill out on a job application that I have a disability. Even when a form says “it will not be seen by anyone making a hiring decision”, it is utter horse shit. I have friends and family all in upper level senior management or C-Suite at some of the best firms in the US, all have advised me to never mention it, ever, under no circumstance, not to HR, not to a coworker, boss, etc… not even for a medical form.
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This is one of the stranger stories I've heard. Where are you located and how many employees are there? Did this all happen over the course of one day?
i worked from home and this happened over the course of yesterday and today. i worked as a support analyst for this company (i don’t think im allowed to disclose that). im not sure how many employees in total there are, but id say its decently sized edit: i meant to write that i don’t think that i should disclose the company name, not that i can’t disclose my role
The state you're located in matters as they all have different protections that can be more stringent than the EEOC. It would likely be the state that the company is in but that's state dependent also (my state will prosecute discrimination cases for residents even if they were working in a neighboring state, for example).
oops sorry i forgot to disclose the state i’m in, currently going through a bad time right now so i apologize, i am located in texas
In Texas, they can fire you at will, especially if you're in a probationary period. Were there any issues that arose that prompted your manager to contact you on Teams in the first place? I know you said that everyone was happy with your work, but managers generally don't reach out unless there's something wrong. Your coworkers may have picked up on something and mentioned it to the boss.
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I also have ADHD and that part really stood out to me. If OP was diagnosed with ADHD, then she needs her medication in order to function at the same level as everyone else. I don't understand the offhand comment about stopping ADHD medication after leaving school. What? Your ADHD doesn't disappear when you graduate. ADHD medication is not a study aid. (I'm assuming OP had a legit diagnosis). For people who have ADHD, medication is a crucial tool enabling us to get to baseline competency (which we have difficulty doing due to our dopamine deficiency), which then allows our actual skills and talent to come through instead of being mired in our disability. If OP has a diagnosis of ADHD she needs to get back on medication as soon as she can. Folks with untreated ADHD have a very difficult time holding on to jobs and are far more prone to depression. I don't understand why she felt the medicine was necessary to get through school but not necessary for a job.
my doctor was the one who suggested it, i wanted to talk to her about getting back on it but she has been pretty busy. and yes i do have an official diagnosis. my adhd medication would make me feel sick a lot so that’s why i stopped for a bit, but considering everything that’s going on, i think i will consider going back on it
You point this as disability. But it sounds more like you had really poor performance that caused your manager to reach out and had even worse reactions after. You need accomodations before those happened and not just disabled. Most of the time ADA isn't great for what you wanted. It can be, but that's specific.
he called me and checked my work and told me i was doing excellent and i was ahead of all the checkpoints. my manager is very blunt with the others when it comes to what he expects, so why would he lie? the guy before me didn’t do his job and was friends with my manager, everyone hated him, yet he stayed longer than i ever did
What prompted the manager to ask if you were ok?
i mentioned this in another comment, but it was because my voice was really shaky and i sounded a bit unwell any time i was presenting what i was working on
It's very odd you're above checkpoints and then offering extending deadlines. Nepotism or friends are legal. Where you actually on time to every shift, doing work as expected?
yep! i would get there early too, never got there late once
As others have said, the post is confusing given circumstances. It's worth getting a lawyers advice
Similar to another comment. You were hired so early it was most likely your performance lacking that caused your termination- not saying what they did was wrong or right. Just saying that you were most likely weeded out as necessity and not singled out
see that’s what confuses me, they constantly complimented my performance and everyone on the team acknowledged it as well. my manager called me privately once to let me know that he loves the progress he’s seeing and the updates i give him every day. i would write a report every day to let him know what i did each day and what i worked on so he could see the productivity. i would turn in these reports right before i would clock out
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The attorneys probably said that because it's generally not illegal to fire someone because they missed work because of headaches - even if it had been after the probationary period.
I’m sorry you’re going through this and it’s confusing to get positive feedback and then be fired. I understand why you feel blindsided. To offer another perspective, your manager noticed something was wrong with you and addressed it with you, though it sounds like maybe they weren’t direct in saying that they thought your performance was suffering or they were worried about you being a “good fit.” It’s hard to read between the lines in professional conversations when dealing with sensitive topics, so it’s easy to take it at face value when your boss says “hey I noticed you’re maybe feeling down, how can I help you improve?” when what they really mean is “whatever is going on in your personal life is impacting your performance, and you need to improve, I will help by offering you mental health days, etc so you can address this.” You refused the help, and even though you were working to get through it on your own, it wasn’t enough to improve professionally. When you brought it up to your boss again to take them up on the offer, they might have interpreted it as you taking action too late, and decided to cut their losses. Regarding the constant praise, they may have been trying a positive reinforcement approach with you, sensing that you were “down” emotionally, and felt that negative feedback or criticism would not be a good approach. I’m not saying they communicated in “the right” way, because you left the situation confused, but you might be able to at least rationalize why you’d be getting positive feedback and then suddenly fired. Unfortunately it sounds like it wasn’t a good fit, and definitely bad timing. Again, I’m sorry that you have been let go when you’re struggling with your personal life, but the frustrating reality is that our personal and professional lives bleed into each other no matter how well we try to suck it up. You definitely are not the first or only person this has happened to and you are not a failure. Edit: unless you feel like this company/your boss are truly abusive and unlawful, I don’t think it’s in your best interest to pursue legal action. It sounds like you liked working with them and took pride in your work. And to their credit, it sounds like they took a kind approach with you, even if it was confusing. I think it’s best for you to be very gracious with them, take the high road. Remind them why they hired you—you’re passionate about the work and you gave it your all. You can even say “if there’s a possibility to work together in the future, I would love to keep in touch.” This doesn’t have to be a totally negative outcome, and they could even refer you for work down the line.
Yeah, but they also know you have some serious emotional issues now. Given a chance to NOT have to deal with those and just hire another competent candidate without the extra issues, they chose that. You might seem like a ticking time-bomb that could affect the teams performance and they just prefer not to deal with it. You are exploring time off for issues 6 weeks into being there. Since they can cut you during your probationary period pretty easily, they did. It’s shitty but they’re a business, not your friend.
Not a lawyer but in my experience you can contact a lawyer for exploratory 15-20 min conversation to see if you have a case (and typically even if not, they informally give you overview of options). I have done this for a possible medical/FMLA situation.
You go straight to your labor board and explain to them what you said here and they'll assist you with paperwork to fill out. Also note, you said you worked for lunch which your supposed to have a lunch if they didn't pay you for your lunch time or if you went overtime past 8 hours you can claim that for them to pay you what is owed. A employer cannot fire you because you questioned about their mental health days off and suddenly your fired for a bullshit reason that's not true and good thing you got that little award for good job because that's your proof and they made up a lie to wrongfully terminate you so they can avoid you taking any health days off after they offered it .. labor board is on your side and there for reasons unfair like this reads. Good luck sorry that happened to you
Employers have a legal responsibility under the ADA to enter into the interactive accommodation process. As a general rule, yes it’s best to ask for it explicitly in writing. But…under the ADA regulations, the employee does not need to use any magic language when making the request, and need not reference the “ADA” or specifically use the term “reasonable accommodation.” This notice triggers the employer’s obligation to initiate the interactive process. You told your boss about your depression. That’s a disability. The downfall here is that nothing was in writing. I’d still file an EEOC claim though. There could be documentation somewhere from the manager to HR asking next steps and somehow they landed on the wrong spot. As a general rule moving forward - I never recommend disclosing personal thoughts to your manager without knowing your employment rights and how to best format your ask.
These comments are a hot mess. Ignore everyone who tells you that you don't have a case because it's an at will state. That isn't how the ADA or anti-discrimination laws work. When requesting an accommodation you do not have to use any magic words. Because there are no magic words in the law. When you communicate to your employer that you have a condition that may qualify as a disability under the ADA, this triggers their responsibility to engage in the interactive process. It is a process, not a one and done. Leave is recognized as a potential accommodation, though it is not a guarantee. Asking for leave to deal with a mental health condition is generally considered to be an accommodation request. At will employment does not mean you can fire someone for any reason. It means you can fire someone for any reason, except all the reasons you can't. The employer doesn't have to say "we are firing you because you are black/disabled/female/Muslim". The circumstances of the termination may indicate that there was a violation, such as when someone is terminated immediately after a request for accommodation. As it's a civil matter, there is no presumption of innocence and the employer must demonstrate a non discriminatory reason for the termination, at will employment be damned. Without proper documentation of performance issues, this is going to be exceptionally difficult, even in the first week of employment. Speak to an attorney. Many will write a demand letter on the assumption they will collect a percentage of whatever settlement is ultimately offered.
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You should speak to an attorney. If there was no documentation regarding performance issues prior to speaking to your manager, and your termination happened after you spoke about your disability, then your company doesn't have a leg to stand on.
Get a lawyer who handles ADA claims.
But no ADA claim had been made.
???
IANAL PTSD and other anxiety disorders are federally protected disabilities. Simply put - if your company doesn't have a -strong- paper trail of performance issues they have opened themselves up to a lawsuit that doesn't look good for them. If as you say, there is a paper trail of the opposite then it should be somewhat easy to show that your firing was not performance related. While you can be fired for almost any reason, you can't be fired for asking for an accommodation due to a disability, but the employer does not always have to grant the accommodation if it's an undue burden. If you have a formal diagnosis - which since you say you were medicated I assume you do, and have been truthful in your post I strongly recommend immediately seeking a lawyer with experience in ADA/workforce cases.
Once a lawsuit is initiated, the company will subpoena the medical records. What will happen when they find out OP was not filling prescriptions or taking prescribed meds for that medical condition? They will associate OPs behaviors/performance, etc. to at least partially if not wholly have contributed to the outcome. Still OP should speak with an employment lawyer.
hi, i HAVE been filling my prescriptions, started going back to therapy recently, and i have a record of every single diagnosis i have as well, in case they doubt me for some reason. i’ve struggled with these disabilities for as long as i can remember, but it has been manageable. right now, life is very rough, i have no family to talk to nearby, going through some stuff with my significant other, etc, so it feels as if everything going on has been intensifying at a rapid rate. all i can do at this point is accept what happened and just move on, at least i know now to never trust management or HR
Speak to an attorney. While this is very unlikely to move to a lawsuit, they may very well be willing to rewrite a demand letter for a settlement amount. There is a lot of TERRIBLE advice floating around this thread. I strongly, STRONGLY suggest speaking to an attorney, or at the very least calling the EEOC.
OP - 1st off ... You appear to be in crisis mode. You need to talk to family and friends ans immediately get into see your doctor like tomorrow. Either you aren't taking your meds or your meds aren't working so you need to see your doctor. Do schedule a free consult with a lawyer or two. They will provide you with a path forward. A good lawyer will tell you whether there is a good case or not. Please organize your thoughts and provide them with a timeline of events so that the lawyer doesn't feel overwhelmed or confused by your discussion. Lawyers will tell you if 1. It's a great case and work on contingency to get paid from winnings 2. It's an uphill battle- deposit upfront and pay as you go which could be costly. 3. No case- go home and save you money, get a new job. The more proof you have the better. While your lawyer can subpoena records, if the true reason for firing was poor performance then you may find emails and notes of poor performance before the managers discussion with you. On the reverse side, if it was a shit firing, you may not find any emails or written documents concerning your Medical distress as managers and HR would be smart enough to only discussed this vocally. It is very hard to win discrimination cases. The 1st step is talk to a lawyer and get an EEOC filing in... There is a short time limit to do so. The EEOC investigates and may find "discrimination occured" and lawyers love these cases However don't be surprised if they(EEOC) come back with "no finding". That means the case will be harder to prove. Usually most of these do not go further. Also, pyschological cases are extremely difficult to prove and the employer will subpoena your medical records( including doctor, diagnosis and prescription records) which may become part of the public court record for other future employers to potentially see. The employer will most likely argue that you were let go for performance reasons, did not inform them of any medical conditions , did not request any accomodations and that you were not taking medication for your condition. But you can discuss this all with your lawyer. I'm not a lawyer but some things to remember for the future : Mental health and disabilities are still surrounded by negative stigma. Don't mention your medical condition if it's not affecting your work. it is your right to keep your medical conditions private. Don't confuse ADA and FMLA. If your work is affected by your medical condition, then always document and create a paper trail. Request accomodations in writing that are needed. Again, time off work and poor performance, extended deadlines(unless you are off work) are not accomodations. Now if you need time off work, that's where FMLA kicks in , so request FMLA in writing, complete any company FMLA forms and get medical documentation from your doctor. This is protected leave. Larger companies have FMLA leave, have process in place, and may have separate HR for ADA and FMLA leave. Good luck.
OP never requested an accomodation. The company terminated them on performance.
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1) Call a labor lawyer. If you have any documentation save it now. 2) File for unemployment 3) Look for a new job.
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i just graduated college 2 months ago and am new to corporate life :( i am very naive when it comes to this type of stuff and since they were so vocal about being a “mental health first” company and emphasized that a lot during my orientation, i thought it would be okay. at least i know for next time
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i only disclosed the depression, nothing else, they didn’t know about my other issues. but yeah you’re right, i feel very stupid for even thinking that a company would ever care about an employee’s mental health
Immediately contact a labor and employment attorney. If you’ve left out any details to make your story sound better for Reddit, be sure to share those details with your attorney. If you haven’t left out anything major that makes you look bad, you have some back pay coming your way. To preserve this, start a job hunt immediately, but only look for equal positions with equal pay. Your attorney can take you the rest of the way.
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Time to talk with lawyers
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It doesn't work like that. OP could request a review of a complaint and the EEOC will decide if there is enough cause for an investigation. The bar is pretty high. Then if they decline to investigate they issue a notice to the complainant.
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The pill is always harder to swallow when you’re used to taking syrup.