Magicman4473
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania
Please forgive the verbosity of this posting. This is a critical problem in my life, and I didn’t want to leave any details out.
Here is a short summary version for those that don’t have time:
I started a 100% Commisioned sales job on Jan 3, 2006. I was fired for being late four times……all of them collectively totaled only 15 mins late. I was late on the 4th, and the 5th, but didn’t receive any verbal or written warnings as the employee handbook stipulates. Then on Jan 10th I was 7 minutes late for work. I was written up with a final warning, told that if I was late again Id be terminated. I live in Pennsylvania.
I have attention deficit disorder, which is covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The afternoon of the 10th, I made a formal request in writing for accommodations in reference to my arrival time as allowed by the ADA. I was so upset at the prospect of losing this job that I was up every half hour that night having trouble breathing and almost throwing up each time. Despite getting no sleep, I headed in on Jan 11th, but was 2 minutes late. The owner of the company fired me.
I feel I have an open and shut case here. He should have allowed me the accommodations, since my arrival a few minutes late affects no one elses schedule, and there is no possible way it would cause any “undue hardship” to the organization.
I want my job back immediately. I don’t feel I should have been dismissed in the first place. The owner feels it is unreasonable for me to ask him to modify this policy, but as the law is written, it is clearly not.
I am in a bad financial position at them moment, and this job was crucial to my survival. This lack of compassion on his part is costing me very dearly. How strong of a case do you feel I would have against him? Should he not change his mind, I feel I am forced to take any and all legal actions against him that I can. This whole ordeal has been very troubling in more ways then he could imagine. He also knew I had ADD prior to hiring me. So, he didn’t discriminate then, why discriminate now? I had a great working relationship there, to my knowledge there was no other reason why he wouldn’t want me on board.
I appreciate any insight you can provide!
Here’s the long version:
I have Attention Deficit Disorder, for which I am taking medication. The meds help, but they're not a cure-all. I have been fired from two jobs in the last three months for being late to work. No matter how hard I try, it’s not uncommon for me to be late, it's a part of the disability. This is mostly in the morning before my meds really kick in.
The first of the two jobs in question, I did not mention my ADD until it was too late.
The most recent job, I did everything right. I had a pre employment physical, in which I told them I have ADD and what medications I take. My employer knew this, and hired me anyway. (He admitted knowing it). Attendance is very important to this guy. He made that clear. He is ex Air Force, so I'm sure that has something to do with it. I respect the need to be on time, but I simply couldn’t pull it off.
I work as a salesperson. One of the benefits to that is flexibility in scheduling. I started the job on January 3rd, 2006….I was scheduled for 9am. I arrived on time. During the course of the day, my immediate supervisor informed me that I would be required to be at work at 8am each day, since this is the time all of the service technicians are in the building, and it would be good for me to interact with them before they go out on their jobs. They help supply my leads, so I need to be on good terms with them. That’s a fine idea, but I was nervous about having to be there at 8 each day. At no time during the interview process (3 interviews) or even in the written job offer did they ever mention these hours.
I was late the next two days! Jan 4th I was late by about two minutes. No one said anything. At all. The next day was their weekly meeting. I arrived at 8:03 just as my supervisor was heading up the steps to start the meeting. No one said anything about my lateness. Now, although I knew timeliness was important to the owner of the company, I was not disciplined in any way for these infractions. As a result of that, it gave me the impression that there was no problem. Not to say I wouldn’t try to be on time every day….but rather, I didn’t feel any reason to be alarmed.
The company has a very detailed, professionally written employee handbook. On pg 35 of this handbook, it states their disciplinary procedures. 1st offense is to be a verbal warning. 2nd Offense is to be written. 3rd as well. Then 4th = termination.
I was not late again until Tuesday January 10th. I was 7 minutes late. I knew that was a problem, so after the morning rush died down a bit, I went into my supervisor’s office to talk about it. He then informed me that the owner was pissed, and wanted him to write me up for being late three times….and if it every happened again I’d be terminated! I really couldn’t believe it. I got no verbal warning. No second warning. I simply cannot operate with that hanging over my head….knowing that one more strike and I’m out. Therefore, in response to the write up, I wrote a formal letter requesting accommodations to my arrival time as allowed by the Americans With Disabilities Act. I made this request in writing, and gave it to my supervisor on the afternoon of the Jan 10th, 2006. I printed a copy for the owner as well, but I requested that my supervisor not leave it in his mailbox or laying on his desk, since the owner had left the office for the day already. I didn’t want other office staff to see it.
That letter was the first time I mentioned my ADD to them. I did put it on the medical forms, which they did see prior to hiring me…….but at no time during the interview process did I mention it……not that it matters. The letter itself didn’t actually say ADD, but I did tell my supervisor what my disability was.
This final notice write up I got on the 10th really blindsided me. That “all in one” final warning write up was not the way the company employee handbook stated these things should be handled. If I had gotten a verbal warning on the 4th, and a written on the 5th……..I would have had at least a better understanding of their position. I was so upset by it that I couldn’t sleep that night. I was up at least twice an hour, every hour of the night, having some sort of anxiety attacks and nearly throwing up each time. Luckily, I have an iron stomach and didn’t. I have never had such attacks before in my life. I suppose it was just the importance of this job, and the possibility of losing it was horrifying. I had my body so worked up that I had diarrhea right before I had to leave for work on Wednesday morning ( Jan 11th, 2006)
Wednesday was the weekly meeting day again. This meeting was to be the only meeting of the month that would be given by the owner of the company. Despite my best efforts, I arrived at 8:02. I started to walk into the conference room, but the owner waved me off……..like, a “don’t bother coming in here” type of wave. So I went to my desk and went about my day as best I could.
Later that morning, I was summoned to the owners office, along with my supervisor. I sat down, and the owner says “I’ve made a decision…..I’m going to let you go.” I asked my supervisor if he showed him the letter……..which he had not. So, I am now fighting an uphill battle, since the man’s mind was made up before I even entered that room. We discussed the ADA briefly, and my request for accommodations. Basically, he didn’t feel that it was reasonable for me to expect him to allow me to be late, when it is the foundation of their type of work……..and everyone else has to be.
With that being said, I need to point out two things. Firstly, I am a sales person…….a different role then anyone else in the company. If I’m late to the office, it’s really not that big of a deal. It’s not like being late to a customer’s house for an sales appointment. I have an impressive track record from my previous sales job….I had an 81% demonstration rate…….the highest in that company. That means, 81% of the addresses they sent me to, I demonstrated the product. I “one call closed” 51.3% of those. You don’t get those types of numbers by being late to your appointments!
Secondly, the ADA clearly allows for this type of accommodation. There is all kinds of language in there that supports it, regardless of whether or not they do it for other employees. There is no way it can be argued that me being late to the office would cause the company “undue hardship.” It wouldn’t literally cost them anything, and it would not truly disrupt anyone else’s schedule.
He decided to fire me anyway. He didn’t even look at the letter until I was cleaning out my desk. As he walked me to the door, he told he had “skimmed” the letter……and it sounded like I was suing him. The letter said no such thing. It was short, and to the point…….simply requesting the accommodation as allowed by the ADA.
Please forgive the verbosity of this posting. This is a critical problem in my life, and I didn’t want to leave any details out.
Here is a short summary version for those that don’t have time:
I started a 100% Commisioned sales job on Jan 3, 2006. I was fired for being late four times……all of them collectively totaled only 15 mins late. I was late on the 4th, and the 5th, but didn’t receive any verbal or written warnings as the employee handbook stipulates. Then on Jan 10th I was 7 minutes late for work. I was written up with a final warning, told that if I was late again Id be terminated. I live in Pennsylvania.
I have attention deficit disorder, which is covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The afternoon of the 10th, I made a formal request in writing for accommodations in reference to my arrival time as allowed by the ADA. I was so upset at the prospect of losing this job that I was up every half hour that night having trouble breathing and almost throwing up each time. Despite getting no sleep, I headed in on Jan 11th, but was 2 minutes late. The owner of the company fired me.
I feel I have an open and shut case here. He should have allowed me the accommodations, since my arrival a few minutes late affects no one elses schedule, and there is no possible way it would cause any “undue hardship” to the organization.
I want my job back immediately. I don’t feel I should have been dismissed in the first place. The owner feels it is unreasonable for me to ask him to modify this policy, but as the law is written, it is clearly not.
I am in a bad financial position at them moment, and this job was crucial to my survival. This lack of compassion on his part is costing me very dearly. How strong of a case do you feel I would have against him? Should he not change his mind, I feel I am forced to take any and all legal actions against him that I can. This whole ordeal has been very troubling in more ways then he could imagine. He also knew I had ADD prior to hiring me. So, he didn’t discriminate then, why discriminate now? I had a great working relationship there, to my knowledge there was no other reason why he wouldn’t want me on board.
I appreciate any insight you can provide!
Here’s the long version:
I have Attention Deficit Disorder, for which I am taking medication. The meds help, but they're not a cure-all. I have been fired from two jobs in the last three months for being late to work. No matter how hard I try, it’s not uncommon for me to be late, it's a part of the disability. This is mostly in the morning before my meds really kick in.
The first of the two jobs in question, I did not mention my ADD until it was too late.
The most recent job, I did everything right. I had a pre employment physical, in which I told them I have ADD and what medications I take. My employer knew this, and hired me anyway. (He admitted knowing it). Attendance is very important to this guy. He made that clear. He is ex Air Force, so I'm sure that has something to do with it. I respect the need to be on time, but I simply couldn’t pull it off.
I work as a salesperson. One of the benefits to that is flexibility in scheduling. I started the job on January 3rd, 2006….I was scheduled for 9am. I arrived on time. During the course of the day, my immediate supervisor informed me that I would be required to be at work at 8am each day, since this is the time all of the service technicians are in the building, and it would be good for me to interact with them before they go out on their jobs. They help supply my leads, so I need to be on good terms with them. That’s a fine idea, but I was nervous about having to be there at 8 each day. At no time during the interview process (3 interviews) or even in the written job offer did they ever mention these hours.
I was late the next two days! Jan 4th I was late by about two minutes. No one said anything. At all. The next day was their weekly meeting. I arrived at 8:03 just as my supervisor was heading up the steps to start the meeting. No one said anything about my lateness. Now, although I knew timeliness was important to the owner of the company, I was not disciplined in any way for these infractions. As a result of that, it gave me the impression that there was no problem. Not to say I wouldn’t try to be on time every day….but rather, I didn’t feel any reason to be alarmed.
The company has a very detailed, professionally written employee handbook. On pg 35 of this handbook, it states their disciplinary procedures. 1st offense is to be a verbal warning. 2nd Offense is to be written. 3rd as well. Then 4th = termination.
I was not late again until Tuesday January 10th. I was 7 minutes late. I knew that was a problem, so after the morning rush died down a bit, I went into my supervisor’s office to talk about it. He then informed me that the owner was pissed, and wanted him to write me up for being late three times….and if it every happened again I’d be terminated! I really couldn’t believe it. I got no verbal warning. No second warning. I simply cannot operate with that hanging over my head….knowing that one more strike and I’m out. Therefore, in response to the write up, I wrote a formal letter requesting accommodations to my arrival time as allowed by the Americans With Disabilities Act. I made this request in writing, and gave it to my supervisor on the afternoon of the Jan 10th, 2006. I printed a copy for the owner as well, but I requested that my supervisor not leave it in his mailbox or laying on his desk, since the owner had left the office for the day already. I didn’t want other office staff to see it.
That letter was the first time I mentioned my ADD to them. I did put it on the medical forms, which they did see prior to hiring me…….but at no time during the interview process did I mention it……not that it matters. The letter itself didn’t actually say ADD, but I did tell my supervisor what my disability was.
This final notice write up I got on the 10th really blindsided me. That “all in one” final warning write up was not the way the company employee handbook stated these things should be handled. If I had gotten a verbal warning on the 4th, and a written on the 5th……..I would have had at least a better understanding of their position. I was so upset by it that I couldn’t sleep that night. I was up at least twice an hour, every hour of the night, having some sort of anxiety attacks and nearly throwing up each time. Luckily, I have an iron stomach and didn’t. I have never had such attacks before in my life. I suppose it was just the importance of this job, and the possibility of losing it was horrifying. I had my body so worked up that I had diarrhea right before I had to leave for work on Wednesday morning ( Jan 11th, 2006)
Wednesday was the weekly meeting day again. This meeting was to be the only meeting of the month that would be given by the owner of the company. Despite my best efforts, I arrived at 8:02. I started to walk into the conference room, but the owner waved me off……..like, a “don’t bother coming in here” type of wave. So I went to my desk and went about my day as best I could.
Later that morning, I was summoned to the owners office, along with my supervisor. I sat down, and the owner says “I’ve made a decision…..I’m going to let you go.” I asked my supervisor if he showed him the letter……..which he had not. So, I am now fighting an uphill battle, since the man’s mind was made up before I even entered that room. We discussed the ADA briefly, and my request for accommodations. Basically, he didn’t feel that it was reasonable for me to expect him to allow me to be late, when it is the foundation of their type of work……..and everyone else has to be.
With that being said, I need to point out two things. Firstly, I am a sales person…….a different role then anyone else in the company. If I’m late to the office, it’s really not that big of a deal. It’s not like being late to a customer’s house for an sales appointment. I have an impressive track record from my previous sales job….I had an 81% demonstration rate…….the highest in that company. That means, 81% of the addresses they sent me to, I demonstrated the product. I “one call closed” 51.3% of those. You don’t get those types of numbers by being late to your appointments!
Secondly, the ADA clearly allows for this type of accommodation. There is all kinds of language in there that supports it, regardless of whether or not they do it for other employees. There is no way it can be argued that me being late to the office would cause the company “undue hardship.” It wouldn’t literally cost them anything, and it would not truly disrupt anyone else’s schedule.
He decided to fire me anyway. He didn’t even look at the letter until I was cleaning out my desk. As he walked me to the door, he told he had “skimmed” the letter……and it sounded like I was suing him. The letter said no such thing. It was short, and to the point…….simply requesting the accommodation as allowed by the ADA.
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