9 Months and Fired

I am a 61 year-old male. Until last Friday I worked for a major TV station as a master control/videotape operator. Or should I say, stations. The operation was originally one station, but because of mergers and digital subchannels, they now have four channels that need to be operated and monitored, as well as separate feeds to the cable companies. When the operation started to expand I started making mistakes as did some other people, but I seemed to make the most. After getting suspended a few times, my boss (who is definitely a bi-polar bastard, but that’s another story) said I should seek help. I eventually did, and last summer I was diagnosed as having ADD, inattentive type. So my load of working in master control was reduced, with me spending more time doing videoptape, which is generally a slower pace and you have time to correct mistakes before they hit air.

Well, one more on-air mistake and they are angry. So my therapist writes a letter saying that I need to be taken off of master control completely. Instead, they fire me, after 28 years at the company, insisting they are unable to make the requested accommodation. This is of course a lot of baloney, they just would have needed to flip my shift with another person on two days a week to do this, but they won’t.

They gave me a pretty good severance package, and are offering another 10K if I sign an agreement not to sue, etc.. It seems to me that this figure is way too low for what they are asking. I will be seeing a lawyer about this and to have him review the agreement before I send it in, so I’ll see what he says and if he can get the figure increased. I really have no desire to go thru the process of suing the company, or of being re-instated. For the last three days I consider myself retired and just want to get on with my life, but of course I want to get the most I can out of these people.

So, I welcome any advice or similar experiences any of you may have had, and how things worked out.

Thank you,

Larry