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Once again, another employer is making me wear hearing aids!

  • Thread starter Treated Unfavorably
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Treated Unfavorably

Guest
I currently am employed by a temporary agency located in Pennsylvania. I am currently on an assignment through the
agency, in which I am a receptionist/AP clerk.

I told my supervisor I had a hearing disability on the day she interviewed me. She started asking me questions about whether or not I wear hearing aids. I told her I do not wear them, and that I find them annoying. I told her that when I am on the phone, my hearing aid starts squealing in my ear and that makes it more difficult for me to hear the other person. My audiologist says that this is normal, and that there is nothing she can do to make the squealing stop. She said that the only thing I can do is hold the phone another inch away from my ear. I have tried that, and I have found that I hear best on the phone without hearing aids. My hearing loss is in both of my ears, and it is only a 30% loss.

I told my supervisor all this, and she seemed like in the beginning she had no problem with it. As a receptionist, I not only have to answer phones, I have to greet visitors.
On the first few days of work, every time a visitor came through the door, a bell rang to let me know that someone is visiting. After the first few days of work, I noticed the bell
was no longer ringing. I thought at first that maybe it was malfunctioning. This did make my job more difficult, because I could not always know when a visitor was at the
door. The lobby that the visitors enter when they first come through the main entrance is closed off from the rest of the building. There is a little window which I slide open to greet the visitors. If a visitor comes through the main entrance, I will not know they have entered unless of course I saw them enter. Because the lobby is closed off from the rest of the building, I cannot hear visitors enter the building.

A couple of weeks later, my supervisor had a private meeting with me. She said I am doing an excellent job, but
she said she had only one request - that I wear my hearing aids. She said she had been receiving complaints from visitors. She said some visitors thought I was ignoring them, and they said they tried to get my attention but couldn't.

I told my supervisor that I did not like wearing hearing aids because they annoyed me when I was on the phone. I asked her if she could turn the bell that rings when visitors enter back on. She said she could not because that bell is only used when the receptionist is absent. I guess she can't make an exception for a person with a mild hearing loss.

Just tell me, when are employers going to finally realize that just because I have a hearing loss doesn't mean I can't successfully perform on the job? A previous employer forced me to purchase hearing aids, which cost me over $3000.00. My employer-provided insurance did not cover them. My employer knew this, stated this to me, and did not offer to pay for them.

I should not have to accomodate my employer. My employer should be accomodating me!


 


ShyCat

Senior Member
You said, "Just tell me, when are employers going to finally realize that just because I have a hearing loss doesn't mean I can't successfully perform on the job?"

But your story indicates that you do not successfully perform a necessary task of your job: greeting visitors. If visitors have difficulty getting your attention because you cannot hear them without hearing aids, I do not believe it is unreasonable of your employer to ask you to wear your hearing aids. However, I am not a lawyer so this is just a layman's opinion.

Can you wear just one hearing aid, leaving one ear "un-aided" for answering the phone, while the "aided" ear listens for visitors?
 
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buddy2bear

Guest
Since your disability is correctable, I don't think you would be covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act and therefor your employer does not have to accommodate you. ShyCat has made a good suggestion. Is it possible for you to do this?
 
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Treated Unfavorably

Guest
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, even if you have a past history of a disability your rights are protected.

Also, according to this law, if an employee asks for an accomodation, the employer is required to accomodate the employee, unless it would cause an undue hardship to the business. I don't see how turning on a bell could be undue hardship to the business. I should not have to be required to wear hearing aids. My hearing loss is part of my personal health, and I choose to keep it just that - personal. The truth is, with accomodations
(employer-provided accomodations, that is) I can successfully perform my duties as a receptionist. Whether or not I choose to wear hearing aids is my personal decision, not my supervisor's. My employer is not my doctor. These are my ears, not yours.

I have had this hearing loss throughout my life, and through the years I have heard many nasty comments.

"Are you deaf?!!!"

"Why don't you just get hearing aids?!!"

"Do you have bananas in your ears?!!!"

I had to put up with these comments throughout my school years, and now it seems I am putting up with the same type
of discrimination in my career.

I think a lot of employers, once I tell them I have a hearing loss, they get all worried and start acting like I won't be able to do my job. Some employers even think I am probably stupid because of my hearing loss. When I told my current supervisor about my hearing loss, her first question was "Do you have hearing aids?" It was obvious
she was already worried about how I was going to do my job.

On a final note, your suggestion to wear one hearing aid for
greeting visitors, and not wearing a hearing aid in the other for answering phones is just not feasible. A hearing aid, unlike a normal human ear, works like a microphone. No matter how close or how far away noises are, they all the same volume. So I would have one ear picking up every single noise in the office, and in the other ear I would feel like I am deaf. Just imagine how awkward I would feel at work. If I feel awkward, I am going to act awkward. That would definitely not look good for the company's employees, customers, vendors and visitors. And we don't
want that to happen, now do we.

 

ShyCat

Senior Member
Well, it seems you've already made up your mind that you're right and your employer is wrong, so I'm not sure what you want from this board. I'll admit that I don't know much about the ADA and even less about hearing aids, though I expect I'll know more in the not-so-distant future. I do hope that when I face that choice, my attitude will be considerably less belligerant than yours.

If you truly believe that accomodation is a one-way street, then hire yourself a lawyer. I didn't think the ADA was written that way, but no one ever said every law was fair. With a 30% hearing loss, you may not realize just how loud those bells are to everyone else in your office. They're quite jarring, and downright painful up close, as they're meant to be heard throughout a large area. That's why no one else wants them turned on during office hours. If I was jumping out of my skin and wincing with pain every time a visitor rang that bell, I'd be feeling a whole lot less accomodating than you believe you're entitled to.

What's the old saying?... "Your right to throw your fist ends at my nose." If the ADA trumps common sense, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but it seems to me that such an Orwellian "some are more equal than others" approach is destined to backfire on the very people it's intended to help. I know that I for one would be very relunctant to hire you... because of the attitude, not the disability.

I hope you and your employer can reach an equitable and fair solution.
 
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TimC

Guest
I think I would start looking at this from another angle.

What if, instead of being hooked up to a bell, the button was hooked up to a light bulb. The light would flash or glow when a visitor appeared. This would likely be far less annoying to those who object to the bell.

The employer will be in more of a "receiving" mode when approached with suggestions rather than legal mumbo-jumbo.
 
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buddy2bear

Guest
"Thus far, the U.S. Supreme Court had declined to rule that any impairment is a disability per se under the ADA. Therefore, a chief issue in many ADA cases is whether the claimant is disabled -- SUBSTANTIALLY LIMITED in a major life activity -- and thus protected under the ADA" (FEP Sum., Vol. 35, No. 882). 30% deafness is not "substantially limiting a major life activity," particularly when there are corrective appliances available. If you do not want to use them, you should not expect the employer to accommodate you. As ShyCat says, "accommodation is a two way street." Your post sounds as if you have a chip on your shoulder and are basically looking for ways to make trouble for your employer as a form of "payback" for what you perceive as "picking on little ole me."
 
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jimmy40

Guest
I have a friend who works at a call center and he wears a hearing aid all day. Never complains about anything. Sounds like you might consider talking to a professional counselor about your hostility towards wanting people to bend over backwards to accommodate you and everyone else is stupid for suggested something. Why don't you get a job doing something that doesn't require you to wear a hearing aid. I've been blind in one eye my whole life, so what. I've adapted. You can to if you quit feeling sorry for yourself and really figure out a way to fix it. If you want to really fix it. People ask questions about your hearing because they don't understand. People ask questions about my ability to only see out of one eye. My eye doctor didn't understand how I could play baseball all my life because my depth perception should be out of whack. I never noticed. I adapted, no big deal. Hopefully you can understand what I'm saying since you don't have to have a hearing aid to read this. I think the only person who has a problem is you. Your to sensitive and are afraid of what other people think, who cares. If you're not willing to adapt to the situation, you should do something else. Quit Whining!!!
 
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TimC

Guest
Hey Jimmy, I am a hockey goaltender with vision in only one eye. Depth perception is only a problem for me when the shot comes from the red line. It is embarassing when a shot from the red line goes right over your glove!

Maybe if I told the other team, and the referee, they would not allow goals from the red line?
 
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Treated Unfavorably

Guest
I enjoy the job that I am currently doing. It is a job that I went to business school for, and I am doing very well at it.

My supervisor told me that there were several people in this position before me who didn't last very long. They did not do as well as I have been doing at this position. After only a week and a half there, I was asked to come on as a
full time, permanent employee of this company.

I feel that I can make many positive contributions to this company, so the last thing I want to do is seek revenge.
Yes, I am very angry and frustrated about the situation I have been put in. If I really wanted to seek payback, I could just easily call my lawyer. But I have chosen not to do that.

What I really am seeking from this website are possible solutions that both my employer and I can agree on. I have already made up my mind about the hearing aids, and I am looking for some type of compromise that will please both of us. I am looking for a way that I can tell her without
making her feel uneasy or worried.

I would like to thank TimC for his suggestions. I have also been thinking of other possible solutions because I want to fix the problem. I thought of maybe putting a sign up next to the window stating that " Our receptionist is hearing-impaired. Please knock on the window for assistance." I also thought of maybe getting a little bell that you see at hotels and retail establishments. I also thought of suggesting an intercom or something on the order of a baby monitor. It is very hard for me to hear for people coming through the main entrance. I don't even think a person with normal hearing would be able to hear a person walking through that door. Especially when you have a lot of background noise in the office. There are phones ringing, people talking, printers printing, etc.

I have worked in businesses where they had intercoms, buzzers or bells in the lobby area, and they were on all of the time. These devices not only let the receptionist know when a visitor has arrived, they ensure the safety and security of all the employees in that building. With all the weirdos out there these days, you never know when some
disgruntled person is going to sneak in and cause harm.
Someone can easily sneak in at my company, since there is no bell or other safety device. What if an angry, in the middle of a divorce, person came in to harrass his spouse?
This person could walk right into the main entrance without my knowledge. By the time I would notice, he or she would already have come through the lobby. It would be hard to stop this person after that. We don't even have a visitors log for visitors to sign in so we know who has been here.

This company does not get many visitors. Maybe about 4 to 5 a day.

If anyone has any more suggestions, I would like to hear them.

Thank you.
 

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