The Forums › Forums › The Workplace › Who to Tell? › I "came out" to my employer › Re: I “came out” to my employer
Anonymous
Wendy,
As an attorney, I agree with what everyone has said here about harassment. you have rights, and you should feel empowered to exercise them by complaining. I also agree that, short of telephone cleaners, HR people are the most useless form of waste in corporate America. They’ll be the first with their backs against the wall when the revolution comes (apologies to Douglas Adams).
Some (non-legal) advice:
(1) One of the few useful things I learned in college was advice a boss of mine gave me (I worked for the college) when I took on the administration over some inequalities. I asked him, “what if they fire me for complaining.” Without missing a beat, he said, “why would you ever want to work for someone who would do that.” Since then, I’ve never had trouble confronting a boss. There are other jobs out there, and you don’t have to settle for one with a company that promotes a jackass to be your supervisor.
(2) More effective than writing things down, get a digital recorder, or use the one on your mobile phone. Record everything and archive it on your home computer. The jury will love to hear it. Pro tip: be sure to get your boss being explicit; demanding pills, etc. Vague allusions won’t be as effective as “give me the pills or you’re fired.” (Some states have rules about recording conversations, so look into it in your state. So long as you’re in person (not on the phone), you will probably be okay.) When you think you have enough (10 really good bits), take it to a lawyer to get their view on whether you have enough, and play them for the most senior HR person at your company. Everyone else is either a mindless troll who spends their day joking about people’s medical files (true story), or too naive to be of any help. A senior executive will instantly see the dollar signs attached to your lawsuit and will bend over backwards to fix it. You also will likely need to exhaust your internal remedies before suing.
(3) I would be willing to bet that you were diagnosed after taking this job. It sounds like you’re better than that job now. Don’t run from the job out of fear, but realize that you’re worth more than what they can give you. It sounds like a crappy place to work, especially if they think a psychopath like that is supervisor material.
(4) If you’re still giving her pills (which is illegal, and constitutes blackmail on her part), stop. If you cannot, tell her your doctor switched your medication and give her generic ex-lax. (She sounds like a moron, but generic should be a plain white pill). When she complains, tell her that’s a known side effect. (Diarrhea is a side effect for Adderall and Strattera). For added fun, cellophane over the toilet seat.
I truly believe what they call ADD is really a hunter mentality. Approach the problem like a dragon that needs to be slayed–stalk it, find its weakness and kill it. Enjoy the feast afterwards. (Don’t actually kill her, but getting her fired and seeing her dragged out in cuffs sounds more than justified). Good luck.
REPORT ABUSE