DisabledLakota
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arkansas
I was terminated with a letter stating my position had been eliminated. I was the news director at a radio station, responsible for several newscasts and community interviews that are still being done. This came as a complete surprise. I have been told I could not wear traditional native attire to work because of company dress code and that it was not possible for someone else to occasionally cover a co-worker who is out regularly. The latter was told to me after my head injury caused me to be ill after working twice in one month, coming in at 5:30 a.m. instead of 8:15 a.m. and covering both my co-worker and my own shift. I told my employer that it had been hard on my health and asked for the accommodation of another person to alternate the co-worker coverage for me if it happened more than once in a month. I was told no one else was available to do that and that it was part of my job. I was terminated about two weeks after the request for reasonable accommodation was made and denied. Further, when I asked what was offensive about my traditional native attire, my question was ignored. I have been going to Physical Therapy on my own time for my Degenerative Disc Condition worsening since beginning the job 7 months ago; however, the Physical Therapy has only been going on for three weeks. I gave my employer a copy of my schedule two weeks ago, and now my job has been eliminated, but not really the job, just the title and me. I worked even when ill, was not untimely, and had nothing but positive comments for my work. I believe I was fired due to my disability and choice of religion. The station owners are professed Christians who say grace before every company meal. The timing of my sudden dismissal to my request for reasonable accommodation and disclosing my Degenerative Disc Condition and closed head injury, which caused a comment to be made to me by my supervisor that she did not think I could be on disability and work, is highly suspicious in my reasoning. I can think of no other reason for being let go, especially as the job duties I was performing are still being done, leaving the reason of my position being eliminated for my sudden firing null in my opinion. Further, I was allowed no time to collect any of my news recordings or commercial and interview work to use in the search of another job. I was asked to leave a high profile job in the community immediately, damaging my credibility irreparably. Do I have any legal recourse?
I was terminated with a letter stating my position had been eliminated. I was the news director at a radio station, responsible for several newscasts and community interviews that are still being done. This came as a complete surprise. I have been told I could not wear traditional native attire to work because of company dress code and that it was not possible for someone else to occasionally cover a co-worker who is out regularly. The latter was told to me after my head injury caused me to be ill after working twice in one month, coming in at 5:30 a.m. instead of 8:15 a.m. and covering both my co-worker and my own shift. I told my employer that it had been hard on my health and asked for the accommodation of another person to alternate the co-worker coverage for me if it happened more than once in a month. I was told no one else was available to do that and that it was part of my job. I was terminated about two weeks after the request for reasonable accommodation was made and denied. Further, when I asked what was offensive about my traditional native attire, my question was ignored. I have been going to Physical Therapy on my own time for my Degenerative Disc Condition worsening since beginning the job 7 months ago; however, the Physical Therapy has only been going on for three weeks. I gave my employer a copy of my schedule two weeks ago, and now my job has been eliminated, but not really the job, just the title and me. I worked even when ill, was not untimely, and had nothing but positive comments for my work. I believe I was fired due to my disability and choice of religion. The station owners are professed Christians who say grace before every company meal. The timing of my sudden dismissal to my request for reasonable accommodation and disclosing my Degenerative Disc Condition and closed head injury, which caused a comment to be made to me by my supervisor that she did not think I could be on disability and work, is highly suspicious in my reasoning. I can think of no other reason for being let go, especially as the job duties I was performing are still being done, leaving the reason of my position being eliminated for my sudden firing null in my opinion. Further, I was allowed no time to collect any of my news recordings or commercial and interview work to use in the search of another job. I was asked to leave a high profile job in the community immediately, damaging my credibility irreparably. Do I have any legal recourse?