Re: I “came out” to my employer

[Geoduck]

Ask yourself this, if this were sexual harassment, how would you proceed? There are ways to deal with this. You should not ever suffer abuse. My guess is you aren’t this person’s first victim, either.

EEOC website, what constitutes discrimination: <http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/disability.cfm&gt; There is a time limit to file grievances, 180 days…see the website. In addition, if this goes unreported, and the longer it goes unreported, you will find it harder for people to believe you, and to prove your case. Same with the legal system. It’s going to be harder to prove your case the longer you wait, and also harder to prove that you were extorted out of your medication.

First thing to do, whatever you decide, and do it today…GET A LAWYER!!! Check with local agencies. If you can’t afford one, there are several charitable agencies that will provide council to people who can’t afford it. A lawyer can tell you what your legal rights are and how best to proceed, either through HR or the legal system. Also, I agree with everyone else, document everything! Write it down, or record it, whatever, and keep all good reports that you receive about you. This will be key to your case.

My suggestion would be to call the police (after getting a lawyer)!

You’re boss is violating both local and federal laws! One, extorting you for class 2 medications (according to my pharmacist, adderall is a class 2 med- up there with cocaine). That’s actually two laws in one stroke, the extortion, and then taking the meds (stolen by coercion-this is not your fault!). The third would be violating, and heinously so, the ADA act, which states that you cannot be harassed for your disability, or be discriminated against because of your non-transient (longer than 6 months) mental disability.

So if you don’t call the police and are thinking about HR:

Now here’s where I disagree with everyone else. When I was working at a big time corporation, they FEARED people with disabilites. Basically, they knew that it would be impossible to fire these people without extremely strong grounds. They feared lawsuits.

I saw a woman with a mental disability, bipolar disorder, totally run over management. She came to work late, if she showed up at all, she was abusive to others, she was not getting any work done. Even considering the ADA, there were still grounds to fire her, because she was becoming a danger to her co-workers. When I confronted management about her, because, lucky me, I had the privilege of briefly working with her, they said their hands were tied. They said that because of the ADA, it would just be too much of a hassle to deal with her, and any lawsuits that may be filed, even if she was rightfully terminated.

So no, I don’t buy that HR will side with them in this instance. Besides the fear of lawsuits, the embarrassment to the company that your supervisor will eventually provide, will be a publicity nightmare. However, there is one thing to consider. If you do go through HR, and even if you do win, you may be marked as a whistle blower, and it may be hard to get jobs or promotions in the future, which totally sucks, and is totally evil, but is a fact of life.

If you decide not to inform anyone, unfortunately, since the job market is so bad, you can’t just quit. Maybe look for another job before you quit, or request a transfer to another department, at least. Be careful, though, not to just jump into a situation that may actually be worse for you. Also realize, that by not reporting it at all, and just quitting, you may be just passing the problem on to the next unfortunate soul that is put under your supervisor.

My heart goes out to you. This is a horrible situation with no easy solution.

REPORT ABUSE