CA
I have a situation at work where a coworker is constantly harassing me. Talking behind my back, spreading vicious rumors, accusing me of everything in the book, dismantling my integrity from every angle (from "she's not doing her job," to "she's sleeping with the boss"). It's been over a year, and I have tried to ignore, talk to her, talk to her immediate supervisor, talk to our boss... all to no avail.
I have severe chronic PTSD. I was brutalized as a child, and these constant attacks are sending me into a spiral of depression, jumpiness, shaking, nausea, migraines, general misery. I have expressed this to my boss as he's noticed I've "shut down" and to protect myself from negative performance evaluations ("doesn't play well with others" type comments), and to try to remedy the situation, I have filed an ADA Accommodation Request as of the 20th. I asked for several things:
I would like to make several requests, which I hope you will consider either now or future, for short- or long-term use, as I recognize that this is an organic and changeable situation:
* Possibility of modifying my work hours to something partially outside of normal business hours, and/or time to work from home
* Limited in-person contact with triggering coworker [Person], in favor of written communication
* Sensitivity training for [Person] as it relates to PTSD and/or workplace abuse
* [Person's] toxic behavior formally addressed and documented, in this event that it continues with me or others
My boss has received my letter, and a grievance against the person in question. He has informed me that he is handling the grievance "informally" and that he cannot accommodate any of my requests, except for the potential of signing us all up for harassment training.
So nothing is going to change.
Today, as part of his informal approach, he got me and the person in question into a room to talk it out. She said basically nothing, and boss awkwardly tried to get us to open up, share our feelings, rekindle a friendship, darn near braid each other's hair. He wants me to share my PTSD history with her so that she can explode with empathy and set aside her awful behavior in light of my painful past. That's a hard no from me.
I was in so much pain after two and a half hours of this (my fight or flight resulted in tensed muscles, shaking, vomiting after I got out of the meeting), I don't even know what to do. I don't think he understood a word of my ADA Request.
I am not a snowflake. I am not a porcelain doll. I am tough as nails, have been through some difficult and terrible situations, and I can take an enormous amount of crap. But normal people do not behave this way, and I've done everything I can to mitigate my now-meltdown.
What do I do?
I have a situation at work where a coworker is constantly harassing me. Talking behind my back, spreading vicious rumors, accusing me of everything in the book, dismantling my integrity from every angle (from "she's not doing her job," to "she's sleeping with the boss"). It's been over a year, and I have tried to ignore, talk to her, talk to her immediate supervisor, talk to our boss... all to no avail.
I have severe chronic PTSD. I was brutalized as a child, and these constant attacks are sending me into a spiral of depression, jumpiness, shaking, nausea, migraines, general misery. I have expressed this to my boss as he's noticed I've "shut down" and to protect myself from negative performance evaluations ("doesn't play well with others" type comments), and to try to remedy the situation, I have filed an ADA Accommodation Request as of the 20th. I asked for several things:
I would like to make several requests, which I hope you will consider either now or future, for short- or long-term use, as I recognize that this is an organic and changeable situation:
* Possibility of modifying my work hours to something partially outside of normal business hours, and/or time to work from home
* Limited in-person contact with triggering coworker [Person], in favor of written communication
* Sensitivity training for [Person] as it relates to PTSD and/or workplace abuse
* [Person's] toxic behavior formally addressed and documented, in this event that it continues with me or others
My boss has received my letter, and a grievance against the person in question. He has informed me that he is handling the grievance "informally" and that he cannot accommodate any of my requests, except for the potential of signing us all up for harassment training.
So nothing is going to change.
Today, as part of his informal approach, he got me and the person in question into a room to talk it out. She said basically nothing, and boss awkwardly tried to get us to open up, share our feelings, rekindle a friendship, darn near braid each other's hair. He wants me to share my PTSD history with her so that she can explode with empathy and set aside her awful behavior in light of my painful past. That's a hard no from me.
I was in so much pain after two and a half hours of this (my fight or flight resulted in tensed muscles, shaking, vomiting after I got out of the meeting), I don't even know what to do. I don't think he understood a word of my ADA Request.
I am not a snowflake. I am not a porcelain doll. I am tough as nails, have been through some difficult and terrible situations, and I can take an enormous amount of crap. But normal people do not behave this way, and I've done everything I can to mitigate my now-meltdown.
What do I do?
