Faceless accuser and "bad behaviour"
14 Dec 2010, 6:44 pm
I was pulled up by my manager for "questions over my behaviour".
I asked her to cite an example so that I could know what to avoid. She could not provide anything;
I asked whether I could know who had a problem with me. This was declined to.
I don't have the faintest idea what the problem is;
I was [later] told that I had made a marked improvement (despite not actually making any modification).
I have been moved into a desk away from everyone so I can "focus", though in reality this makes me feel withdrawn further.
You've done nothing wrong. Your boss is a coward and a bigot. Unfortunately my experience suggests Human Resources will probably believe anything she says and nothing you say because HR's first priority is protecting HR's "reputation" which is most easily accomplished by sweeping you under the rug to avoid a messy situation.
I was in a similar situation with a large employer, was ordered to undergo a psych evaluation for "dangerousness" because "my presence was unsettling," as soon as I was officially declared "not a danger to myself and others" HR fired me because I "obviously could not get along" with a coward/bigot supervisor who made vague unfounded accusations.
I was originally turned away by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, eventually got an in through a good friend who belatedly remembered a relative worked for the EEOC, after my friend briefed her on my quirks she listened to my story and accepted my case on its merits, after much mudslinging (all distressingly true but not remotely relevant to the case) bad guys' lawyers caved not because I was telling the truth (though I was), but because they realized I had taken the necessary precautions to protect my legal rights while a Human Resources middle manager's bungled attempt to cover his buttocks without senior management or legal finding out had left the organization in a legally indefensible position. They had nuttin'. I knew it all along, just took a few hellish months for them to admit it.
So of course they settled, admitted no wrongdoing, and paid me off in exchange for my signature on a confidentiality agreement for a much higher price than the HR bozo offered me for my signature on a "resignation" letter months before, which was the twelve weeks severence pay I still received because I had already agreed to it on a separate document I made sure he also signed before I politely but firmly refused to sign the "resignation" letter he wrote from me to him (depriving him of intended We Didn't Fire Him, He Quit CYA defense), which he then gave to me unsigned "in case I change my mind" (guess he didn't have a Plan B in case I didn't sign) allowing me to turn it over to the EEOC. Dumb Ass. Of course he's still employed there and was even promoted around the time my case settled.
Standard advice for those in your unenviable position: All you can do is be secure in the knowledge you are absolutely in the right and be prepared to suffer accordingly for it.
Nice work! You kicked their ass good and proper!
HR people are the biggest f*****g morons in the world. A clipboard could do their job.
14 Dec 2010, 7:22 pm
Right lets clear up a few things here
1) You didn't declare your AS to your employer at interview stage or on accpetance of the job. You therefore do not have any recourse or protection (or very little) under the disability discrimination act 2005
2) Get in touch with the following organisations for advice regarding your situation
A) Citizens Advice Beaurau --> they can give you some advice and put you in touch with employment law solicitors who can give you a free consultation to let you know what your odds are or whether you have a case
B) ACAS --> Phone their hot line and speak to them, they know their stuff when it comes to employers rights
C) Your union if you have one (but usually their absolutely useless and a waste of money)
3) Create a chronology of events to refer too
4) Create backup copies of all original documents with any written evidence that can be used against your employer
Lessons to learn for the future:
Declare you have AS at interview stage, because you didn't your employer has carte blanche to do what they like regarding behaviour our consequences relating to your AS diagnosis, wrong plan sunshine live and learn.
14 Dec 2010, 7:30 pm
1) You didn't declare your AS to your employer at interview stage or on accpetance of the job. You therefore do not have any recourse or protection (or very little) under the disability discrimination act 2005
2) Get in touch with the following organisations for advice regarding your situation
A) Citizens Advice Beaurau --> they can give you some advice and put you in touch with employment law solicitors who can give you a free consultation to let you know what your odds are or whether you have a case
B) ACAS --> Phone their hot line and speak to them, they know their stuff when it comes to employers rights
C) Your union if you have one (but usually their absolutely useless and a waste of money)
3) Create a chronology of events to refer too
4) Create backup copies of all original documents with any written evidence that can be used against your employer
Lessons to learn for the future:
Declare you have AS at interview stage, because you didn't your employer has carte blanche to do what they like regarding behaviour our consequences relating to your AS diagnosis, wrong plan sunshine live and learn.
Really?!
So what if a diagnosis only occurs after the person is hired?
By that reasoning, an employer could discriminate against a person in a wheelchair simply because they weren't crippled before the job interview.
14 Dec 2010, 7:47 pm
Well that is a change of circumstances and would be covered in the supervisory procedures of an organisation. Most of the human race will aquire a disability either temporary or permanent at some point in their lifetime, so it is a circumstance where they would be covered by the disability discrimination act
Where you lose an awful lot of your rights is if you have intentionally choosen to set out from the get go to withhold a diagnosis from your employer, regardless of reason. Your employer is then not aware of your disability and not able to make reasonable adjustments if required therefore they are under the eyes of the law not in the wrong if for whatever reason issues occur during the employee's time in the organisation.
Basically, theres little gain in hiding an asperger diagnosis from your employer in this climate. There is an entire book regarding disclosure and aspergers syndrome which covers such issues if you wish to seek it out for your own information
14 Dec 2010, 9:23 pm
You're doing your job to the best of your ability, which probably means you're doing whatever you can to satisfy your customers/clients/patients/subscribers/etc and not kissing up to your incompetent insecure boss or self-serving co-workers. Clock-punchers and pissing-contestants and turf-protectors consider that a threat in and of itself.
Just keep on doing what you've been doing the best you can.
15 Dec 2010, 10:35 am
1) You didn't declare your AS to your employer at interview stage or on accpetance of the job. You therefore do not have any recourse or protection (or very little) under the disability discrimination act 2005
Are you talking US or English law?
IIRC, there is no obligation for any applicant to disclose a disability either at the interview or when hired. It can be disclosed once it becomes an issue and accommodation is needed. The issue in US law is being able to PROVE you have the claimed disability. This is why people with AS but no formal diagnosis get burned.
16 Dec 2010, 2:25 am
The law of the united kingdom, as it applies to Wales, Northern Ireland and those smelly northern bunch too. IF it were english law it would be england only.
No obligation to disclose, but if you want full protection of the disability discrimination act 2005 then you need to disclose before you start working for the organisation. With regards to unofficial/formal diagnosis or suspected conditions an employer can begin to make reasonable adjustments even before there is legitimate proof of diagnosis if they are an organisation with good working practices. As if it doesnt work out for their employee despite the support they put in from an early stage they have a defence that they made such efforts without an obligation to do so (yeah kinda an arse covering move that but it can be vital to keeping people in work sometimes)
16 Dec 2010, 5:07 pm
Sounds like a perfect way to never get hired.
Forced disclosure gives a prospective employer every reason to NOT hire you.
16 Dec 2010, 7:47 pm
Sounds like a perfect way to never get hired.
Forced disclosure gives a prospective employer every reason to NOT hire you.
EXACTLY!
