I am Bipolar I and chronic anxiety disorder, and a damn good worker.
Has this ever happened to? Recently Carefree of Colorado decided to
terminate me from their employment for allegedly "mishandling company
property." This alleged property was a piece of paper. The paper consisted
of a redundant piece of data (DUPLICATE OR CANCELED ORDER) the paper was put
into the garbage in pieces. It could have been a duplicate order or a
canceled order. The item may inadvertently been placed in the garbage or
someone else might of done it.
The Vice President was suggesting that I maliciously tore this piece of
paper up and threw it into the trash. When asked about the document and I
responded that it may have been a duplicate order, he said "I am not buying
that." I thought this response was unusual, because in my experience with
The director of Marketing and Carefree of Colorado has only been praise.
1.. Praise for technical writing
2.. Praise for public speaking
3.. Praise for my relationships from my customers
Lastly, it would not behoove me to eradicate this sheet of paper then
through it away in a malevolent manner. I was interviewing for other
positions in the organization (Carefree of Colorado) hoping to build my
career. This type of self-depreciating behavior would only damper my career
objectives.
This leads me to the next item I would like to address which is that my
rights were violated as a disabled person with Bipolar I Disorder and
generalized anxiety disorder. During the end of May 2004 I told my
Supervisor that I was manic depressant (Bipolar) and our professional
relationship changed. I told her that I needed to leave a little early from
time to time to meet with therapists for med and blood evaluation. I always
made up the time and gave plenty of notice
It is also important to mention that I am a qualified employee with a
disability; I am an individual who, with reasonable accommodation, can
perform my essential functions of any job in the Distributor Care/Order
Entry Department.
I take a variety of prescribed medication that allows me to function as a
contributing member of society and a meaningful team member to an
organization. These medications I take are Seroquel, Lamictal, Zoloft and
Clonazepam. The dosing proves to be successful because it can easily be
measured by the contribution I make to society and my job. I find I need
very little accommodation for my mental disability except for one. Seroquel
does not do well with heat.
The heat in the "Order Entry Department" (where I sat) ran up to
temperatures in the mid 80s around 11:00 a.m. and increased as the time went
on. I brought this attention repeatedly to supervisors. There are four
employees exposed to uncomfortable hot temperatures up to 87 degrees in a
room (Order Entry) no larger then 165 square feet. The room also contains
four computers, calculators, monitors, a large fax machine/printer and other
electronic devices that generate heat. There is little or no ventilation.
Adding to the effect one person runs a heater underneath her desk which
added to the exhausting temperature. With four people and the equipment and
no ventilation the heat around 12:00 becomes much like a dry sauna. Again,
one particular medication I take called "Seroquel" has adverse reactions
when I get overheated including drowsiness, dizziness and change in
alertness. If I did inadvertently make an error from my usual grand
concentration and impeccable work, the effects from the Seroquel and extreme
heat may have been the cause.
I would have liked to mention to my bosses and coworkers the exact
medication that interacted with heat however; the human resources department
forbade us in discussing what particular medication we were on because of
HIPAA regulations. However, I made it very clear that I was on a medication
that made me feel poorly and lethargic in the heat. I told persons in the
office as well as out of the office on a daily basis the suffering and
anguish the high temperature caused me. I made it a ritual to bring it up
to supervisors, about the effects of the room.
I objected every day about the unbearable high temperature in the room which
reached again up to 87 degrees. I complained several times directly to my
manager and then complained to the manager of customer service several times
to no avail.
On approximately January 25th I spoke with The Manager of Customer Service
about the heat in the room and I mentioned to her that I was going to file a
complaint with OSHA if the heat issue was not resolved. It never got
resolved; and I was dismissed on January 31, 2005.
That would you do? If you find this disturbing as I do, please contact me
or complain to:
Carefree Of Colorado Scott-Fetzer Co
2145 W 6 Av
Broomfield, CO 80020 - 1656
(303) 469-3324
Piar Adams
padams@carefreeofcolorado.com
.
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| User: "Coyote" |
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| Title: Re: Bipolar |
20 Feb 2005 12:53:08 PM |
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"Tony Smith" <walburgrv@aol.com> wrote in message
news:55mdnS6K5tfNIYXfRVn-2A@comcast.com...
It is also important to mention that I am a qualified employee with a
disability; I am an individual who, with reasonable accommodation, can
perform my essential functions of any job in the Distributor Care/Order
Entry Department.
Hey, I had that happen too. I wasn't just a qualified employee, either, I
was the top biller in the firm, and I could actually do things "fast, right
and cheap," which is supposed to be impossible. The "accommodation" I asked
for was to not have to work 12-hour days every day for eight weeks (no one
else had to), and to be paid as much as a male coworker with equivalent
duties but lower performance. I was dismissed. My lawyer said that in his
opinion they did screw me, but he would not be able to prove it in court.
The Human Rights Commission said that in their opinion they did discriminate
against me and that they could get me "a letter of apology." (Yeah, that
would feel so much better.)
What I found is that everyone felt sorry for me and no one did anything
about it. Also, the company wouldn't give me a reference that reflected my
actual duties, because that would have enabled me to prove the wage
discrimination, so I had a really hard time getting another job in that
field. I would have had to start over from scratch, essentially.
In the end what I did was get rid of (almost) everything I owned, leave
town, and change industries, over the course of many months. When I was
making up my mind to leave town, I asked my therapist if she thought I was
running away, she said yes, but that I probably needed to. I don't think
this was the best way to address the issue, but it did get me out of
depression for 16 months, which was really a relief. So if I had any advice,
it would be not to make waves until you have another job, so that at least
your former employer can't starve you out.
Good luck,
-
Alice
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| User: "Noon Cat Nick" |
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| Title: Re: Bipolar |
20 Feb 2005 09:29:10 PM |
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FADA might or might not apply here. Check with an attorney who
specializes in such matters. Also be sure to contact the State of
Colorado Department of Labor and explain your situation to them; they
might be able to help.
.
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| User: "% surfs@uniserve" |
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| Title: Re: Bipolar |
20 Feb 2005 09:42:39 PM |
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"Noon Cat Nick" <chatdemidiSPAMBEGONE@catlover.com> wrote in message news:42195585.D6BC0D4D@catlover.com...
: FADA might or might not apply here. Check with an attorney who
: specializes in such matters. Also be sure to contact the State of
: Colorado Department of Labor and explain your situation to them; they
: might be able to help.
will they be supportive
.
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| User: "Noon Cat Nick" |
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| Title: Re: Bipolar |
20 Feb 2005 11:50:41 PM |
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"%" wrote:
"Noon Cat Nick" <chatdemidiSPAMBEGONE@catlover.com> wrote in message news:42195585.D6BC0D4D@catlover.com...
: FADA might or might not apply here. Check with an attorney who
: specializes in such matters. Also be sure to contact the State of
: Colorado Department of Labor and explain your situation to them; they
: might be able to help.
will they be supportive
I most supportively support the supportiveness of the highly supportive
and therefore quite definitely supportable Colorado Department of Labor.
Support of any attorney, however, will not be forthcoming.
.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: Bipolar |
20 Feb 2005 11:33:42 AM |
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Get an attorney who understands the Americans with Disabilities Act.
.
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| User: "% surfs@uniserve" |
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| Title: Re: Bipolar |
20 Feb 2005 11:42:00 AM |
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"notchimera" <dont@bother.com> wrote in message news:vgih11pdii6dd85ark4jsb3c249rttjab0@4ax.com...
: Get an attorney who understands the Americans with Disabilities Act.
if the american disabilities act isn't here talking about itself , neither should you be ,
it has its own busniess and if its not being posted you shouldn't post about it
:
.
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| User: "Noon Cat Nick" |
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| Title: Re: Bipolar |
20 Feb 2005 09:29:41 PM |
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"%" wrote:
"notchimera" <dont@bother.com> wrote in message news:vgih11pdii6dd85ark4jsb3c249rttjab0@4ax.com...
: Get an attorney who understands the Americans with Disabilities Act.
if the american disabilities act isn't here talking about itself , neither should you be ,
it has its own busniess and if its not being posted you shouldn't post about it
:
?
.
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| User: "% surfs@uniserve" |
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| Title: Re: Bipolar |
20 Feb 2005 09:44:12 PM |
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"Noon Cat Nick" <chatdemidiSPAMBEGONE@catlover.com> wrote in message news:421955A5.84DD5257@catlover.com...
: "%" wrote:
: >
: > "notchimera" <dont@bother.com> wrote in message news:vgih11pdii6dd85ark4jsb3c249rttjab0@4ax.com...
: > : Get an attorney who understands the Americans with Disabilities Act.
: >
: > if the american disabilities act isn't here talking about itself , neither should you be ,
: > it has its own busniess and if its not being posted you shouldn't post about it
: > :
:
: ?
i mentioned someones name here the other day ,
and got a lecture about posting business about someone who isin't posting
.
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