Terminated due to performance-Reference Related

[jumbo45]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

I worked for a large corporation until 02/15/2012. I was terminated due to poor performance. I know normally I could not expect a good reference, but the poor performance was related to a serious health condition-severe depression which has taken hold of me for the past year. I had good performance reviews for the first 8+ years I was with the company.

I had taken a couple of leaves this past year due to my condition. My condition was initially caused by work stress. I had simply put myself under too much pressure..worked long hours just to keep up. My employer was aware of it. I was really working in a toxic work environment..people were leaving in droves..some of them without job offers just to get out of there. I also had a couple of personal issues which came up during the year while I was still trying to recover from the initial depression which worsened my already bad situation.

I am just concerned about getting a bad reference from my employer, especially in light of the fact my poor performance was related to a health condition. My former employer was fortune 100 company..I don't think they would give out anything but name, rank, serial number, but I just want to protect myself just in case. I really think I could succeed weith another employer.

I do think my employer violated ADA in terms of some issues. Should I try to "negotiate" a mutually beneficial separation in light of possible misbehavior on the part of my employer? Or even if that is not taken into consideration, should I approach them and ask them to consider that option in light of the fact I was a good employee for 8+ years? Any assistance is appreciated,.

 

[Proserpina]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

I worked for a large corporation until 02/15/2012. I was terminated due to poor performance. I know normally I could not expect a good reference, but the poor performance was related to a serious health condition-severe depression which has taken hold of me for the past year. I had good performance reviews for the first 8+ years I was with the company.

I had taken a couple of leaves this past year due to my condition. My condition was initially caused by work stress. I had simply put myself under too much pressure..worked long hours just to keep up. My employer was aware of it. I was really working in a toxic work environment..people were leaving in droves..some of them without job offers just to get out of there. I also had a couple of personal issues which came up during the year while I was still trying to recover from the initial depression which worsened my already bad situation.

I am just concerned about getting a bad reference from my employer, especially in light of the fact my poor performance was related to a health condition. My former employer was fortune 100 company..I don't think they would give out anything but name, rank, serial number, but I just want to protect myself just in case. I really think I could succeed weith another employer.

I do think my employer violated ADA in terms of some issues. Should I try to "negotiate" a mutually beneficial separation in light of possible misbehavior on the part of my employer? Or even if that is not taken into consideration, should I approach them and ask them to consider that option in light of the fact I was a good employee for 8+ years? Any assistance is appreciated,.

Can you expand on the ADA violations please?

 

[commentator]

I strongly suspect that what will keep you from getting that next job will not be the reference from the last job. As you said, name rank and serial number will very likely be what these people will provide. Or rather confirmation of and dates of employment and job title.

But what you could do is go in with a lot of information about how bad the circumstances were at this job, how unjustly you were dealt with and terminated, how you feel that they didn't go through the correct ADA procedures, how people were leaving right and left because of the situation.....

Large professionally run companies rarely make errors in their handling of ADA issues and termination of employees, because they have professional HR people and careful policies in place.
To spend a great deal of time trying to "negotiate a reference" with them does not seem productive to me. I am not seeing where you have anything to negotiate with. Especially since you have already been terminated, and it would be rather late to come in with an attorney (even if you could find one who would take your case) trying to show that you were unjustly terminated for ADA reasons. Which as I said, is very doubtful anyhow.

You have eight years of productive work experience with these people. If you had been really bad, you probably wouldn't have lasted eight years. You need to be concentrating on the positive aspects of this employment experience, not worrying about how they might blast your hopes and destroy your life moving forward. This situation is over.

You may want to seek out some good employment counseling to help you figure out the best way to move forward and leave this eight years behind you without lingering resentments and obsessions about it. From the sound of it, you are not just 100% sure you are ready to work again ( "I really think I could succeed weith another employer.") due to your depression issues.

If you have not already done so, file for unemployment insurance, state that you always did your job to the best of your abilities. Emphasize that you are ready to find another job now,that you are no longer under a doctor's care.
Firing someone for performance issues usually does not keep them from receiving unemployment benefits unless they were deliberately screwing up their work and not doing it well due to goofing off. But it may also give you an excellent idea of what the company will say about you and the reason you left there.

 

[swalsh411]

I do think my employer violated ADA in terms of some issues.

Did you present something from a doctor stating you had a disability and also request reasonable accomodation? If not yes to both there is no possible ADA violation because you never notified your employer of your needs.