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Fired for Medical Disability

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Impatiens

Member
What is the name of your state? California.

I had a ruptured berry brain aneurysm 11 years ago and recently worked for a hospital for 3 1/2 years. I was honest about everything on my application, but did not realize until I started working for them, the extent of my cognitive deficit. I'm still intelligent but a much slower learner and was a constant struggle in my work, but the boss was kind enough not to fire me.

After 2 1/2 years at the hospital, a manager from another department (same hospital) contacted me to discuss my transferring to her department in an administrative position (big promotion). This was based on my background and experience. She was not aware of my deficits. After 2 interviews and the job offer, I requested a third meeting with her to discuss my cognitive deficit and short term memory problems, and was as honest as I could be, not wanting to leave a hopefully secure position if there was risk in the new position. She assured me that my past work experience, demeanor, supervisory skills, etc. made up for the deficits and she didn't mind my taking longer to train.

Things were going fine with the manager, however there was a "leadership team", 3 of whom demanded I be fired for my disabilities (the three that had applied for my job initially and had been turned down by the manager). I was forced to devulge all my confidential medical history in a meeting with these individuals in an attempt to save my job. It was a horrific experience with two of them being very malicious about it. They apparently went over the manager's head and HR got involved. HR wanted me fired and I believe they instructed the manager to "write me up" (since I never have been) with whatever she could. There was NO misconduct so things were made up and because of this I refused to sign the "warning". I was then terminated. I refused HRs request that I sign a statement that I voluntarily resigned.

When I returned (very calm & controlled) to the office to get my laptop, dayrunner and cell phone I was told that I was not permitted in the building and I was forced to sit in an outside atrium for over 2 hours, watching them go through everything in my office, put it in boxes and dump it out in the parking lot. An armed security officer was called to stand by (for NO reason). This is not policy, as others have been terminated and allowed to return for their possessions. The HR director handed my my check and gave me a completely new reason for my termination "unsatisfactory performance".

I've been out of work now for 9 months. I'm giving up the search for work to apply for SSDI due to my permanent disabilities which are confirmed in writing by a neurypsychologist specializing in brain injury.

Do I have a suit against this hospital? I can't afford an attorney unless he/she were to take it on contingency; and feel I will be contacting Legal Aid.

I'd greatly appreciate any advice! Thank you.

Impatiens
 


Katy W.

Member
If what you say is true, then you need to get to EEOC IMMEDIATELY. The statute of limitations is either 180 or 300 days, in most cases.

What reason did they give you for the negative job actions?
 

Impatiens

Member
Reason for Termination

Thanks for the referrals. I will follow up.

Reasons for Termination:

According to Manager: leadership team complaining about my disability, taking so long to learn software, forgetful, etc.

According to HR Director at time of termination: Vague and would not specify a reason stating she didn't want to argue about it. When I demanded a reason, they starting reading the warning notice which did not specify a particular incident, very vague. When I demanded they name one specific incident or reason I was being fired the HR director created an outlandish story about taking a survey of employees who felt they had been mistreated by me. I called her on it, telling her that I had an excellent rapport with ALL employees I supervised and NONE of them would say such a thing. I demanded she tell me how many employees to which she replied "Uh...a significant number". When I asked "one, two, twenty, how many?" She kept repeating "a significant number" and "I am not at liberty to tell you".

According to HR Director at time given final paycheck (days later): "Unsatisfactory Performance".
 

Impatiens

Member
Katy W. said:
ARE you KIDDING??
Katy, No. The three on the leadership team had all applied for my position before I got it, so I'm sure there was some jealousy. They apparently went over the manager's head to the CFO. I had no problem with the manager, we worked well together. In fact, she told me the day before I was fired that my job was secure.
 

Impatiens

Member
Date/Documentation/EEOC advice

Katy W. said:
How long ago did this happen? What kind of documentation do you have?
This occured 8/04, after 3 1/2 years with this hospital. HR Director decided to fire me and needed some documentation (there was none, as I'd never been written up). The manger then wrote up a Corrective Action Plan that contained 90% false information, or twisted to look like I'd done something wrong, when I had only done what was instructed. I refused to sign and documented my reasons to the manager, requesting she re-write the CAP. She subsequently took out all the false information and gave me a new Corrective Action Plan which I signed. This contained no wrong-doing on my part, it simply listed 15 areas that I would train in within 90 days and named the people I was to train with.

In 60 days I had successfully completed 10 of the 15 areas of training listed in the CAP. I was then fired!

Documentation I have: The original CAP that I refused to sign, the re-written CAP that I did sign, my memo to manager documenting what I contested in the original CAP. Interesting that upon requesting a copy of the original CAP she refused...unaware that I'd already made a copy.

Two other tidbits that may be significant:
1. The day before I was terminated the manager told me how well I was
doing, and that I didn't have to worry about passing probation, my job
was definitely secure.
2. When I asked the manager if she could rate my performance so far, A to F
she immediately responded "A Plus!" This was 6 months before
termination. My performance did decrease dramatically after my father
passed away, but after time off I was back to the performance she
commended.

I contacted a Federal Investigator with EEOC today. He stated that if a person is not performing at the level the position calls for after a year, that a company can legally fire them. This can go either way, depending on who you talk to, the manager vs the HR Director, who never worked with me. They are sending the paperwork. My big concern is that stating I was able to perform may affect my eligibility for SSDI. The truth is that I could have done the job with more time, I gave 200%, working long exempt hours to compensate for my disability and went above and beyond the effort any other staff member put in. This situation was completely unfair, yet I am not sure where it fits into the legal system.

I certainly welcome and appreciate any ideas!

Impatiens
 

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