Depression and termination

[mrmoto2005]

What is the name of your state? North Carolina
I work for a very large company in the IT department. I had been having some problems at work late last year with frustration and anger, and decided to work through the Employee Assistance Program to get myself straightened out. At that time, I had an issue with my supervisor and ended up in HR. They didn't write me up, but the put the events into my file "just in case it happened again."

My EAP counselor suggested that I see a Psychiatrist who diagnosed me with clinical depression and put me on daily medication.

Now - 3 months later, my desk has been moved into a storage room with a few other people due to "space issues" and we were told yesterday that we have to keep the door to this storage room shut for security reasons. The room is small and hot with no windows, and it's quite uncomfortable for me in there. When I was told this, I got very angry and left the room. After calming down a couple of hours later, I sent an email to the asset management guy and said that he either needed to move us out of the room or move the equipment in there out, but that the door needed to stay open for health and moral reasons.

Today - I ended up being unofficially written up again - my supervisor has told me that I'm one step from termination and that if I don't clean up my act, I'm gone. This is very upsetting to me and I don't know what to do. They don't know about the depression, and I really don't want to tell them.

Okay - so here's my question - if I'm terminated, would the depression come into play at all? Should I say something to HR now so that they can't fire me (does that make sense)? I know that I need to calm down and not get so frustrated, but it's very difficult to control my emotions on this medicine.

Thanks in advance for any help - I appreciate it!

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Even if you tell them about your depression, it is not an issue with your termination and if you are terminated, it will be your own doing.

 

[cbg]

EVEN IF you report your depression to HR, and EVEN IF they establish that the ADA applies in your case, that doesn't mean that you can't be fired. Nothing in the ADA says that an employer has to accept behavior in a disabled employee that they wouldn't accept in a non-disabled employee. An employee who is covered under the ADA can still be fired for cause.

 

[Katy W.]

However, disclosing yourself as disabled under the ADA (if this does apply to you) is the ONLY way to get accommodations for your disability. Once you do disclose your disability and tell your supervisor about your diagnosis, your supervisor and you can start the interactive process to see if there are some accommodations that don't cause your employer undue hardshuip but will help you do your job. Your employer is only responsible for accommodating disabilities HE KNOWS ABOUT.

At the very least, telling the truth about your disability cannot lawfully hurt you, even though it can not "save your job."

 

[SuzieWahoozie]

I agree with the others. Just because you are disabled doesn't mean your employer has to allow you to have angry outbursts. However, they cannot accommodate a disability they know nothing about. You need to tell them, and you have to decide that you will never use your disability as an excuse for poor behavior. Your employer doesn't have to, and you shouldn't either.

You state that the medication you are taking makes it difficult to work in the closed/hot enviroment. Your employer definitely needs to know that, so they can, if reasonable, find you a more comfortable work space.