I am a civil servant. Right after being put on stress leave, my superior accused me of being under the influence, when I was obviously distraught. While on stress leave, I was constantly harrassed to go to district meetings that would only further my terrible anxiety. When letters were sent by my psychiatrist excusing me from these meetings, my union rep. failed to give them to the proper authorities, then allowing the " big wigs " to label me as being " insubordinant ". I am now being threatened with the outcome of either being fired or being forced to enter a year and a half drug rehab program in order to get a second chance! Not only am I not a user, but I suffer from severe anxiety disorder. This situation created so much truama that I had had 6 anxiety attacks in a 2 hour period and my immune system is so down from the stress that a virus I had 2 months ago has re-occured twice since the situation arrose. These slanderous accusations are literally killing me. What do I do? Do Not Let Them Get Away With This....
Get yourself an attorney, I don't know if one from the union will help or not, but if not then call the attorney referral line for your area. Be sure that their license is in good standing and check to see if there have been cases of mal-practice against the attorney/s that will be handling the case. This is to protect you. Many attorneys will take the case pro bono so if you don't receive an award there will be no charges from the attorney. Your suit should be against the company, and the union Rep., the person/s that have accused you of needing rehab to retain your job. You need to have full names and company job titles. You want compensatory damages (loss of wages, doctor bills those of now and possible future ones caused or made worse by all of this and the continuation of your medical insurance with out premium for a period of time, etc.) and punitive damages (award to punish those involved). You will need from your regular physician, and your psychiatrist notarized statements (probably medical records) you were not under the influence of any illegal drug at the time of the accusation. You will need to prove that the slander and stress and trauma by all of this has worsened your condition and has left your body unable to resist or prevent recurrences of a particular virus, (the one you've had 2 recurrences), and most likely it will take some time for you to recover from all this and during this time you will be at risk of other illness from your resistance being low. If your doctors feel that your job and the mess from there has put you into such a bad state your attorney can also ask the court award you your normal wages,(no over time wages) unless you can prove they were mandatory. For a period of time. The court can award you wages for any length of time the court feels is proper, and if you are no longer capable of working at this job make the company provide schooling to put you into a different type work.
I'ver been there, done that. Included in my award was the termination of the boss that fired me while I was on workers compensation. He left quietly one day after lunch. One of my co-workers called me and said the word was he got fired, but no one knew for sure why. I did not let them know what happened. It was not really anyone else's business. I later ran into his wife and she thanked me for not spreading what happened as it was the job market was bad at the time but he did find a position, but no longer supervised anyone. I will warn you it takes time, but have patience. I went back to school and got my international certification in electronics, I got a great job with much better pay and perks. But the emotional tole was really rough, during the working while I was hurt and in a wheelchair. Having not one but two surgeries on my knee, and then getting fired for something I not only didn't do, but wasn't in a position to ever do. They said I trained someone wrong. I worked alone and the plan was to move another test tech back into my job while I was gone for the surgery because he used to have my position and wouldn't need training. The best thing that ever happened was it was written in our monthly news letter and even which tech. When my lawyer put that into evidence the company suddenly wanted to talk settlement. Good luck to you and if you can copy this so you remember to make sure your lawyer goes for all of it. Contact a lawyer. If you have a doctor that supports you and has been providing you with letters that excuse you from work/meetings then that should be sufficient. If your Union rep isn't doing their job then that needs to be looked into as well. First step, call a Lawyer, explain your situation, they will be best to advise you on where to go next. I have severe anxiety aswell.When you start in having people on top of that making it worse, you get to a point you feel like a cripple.I had very similar issues at my last job that I was on for 6 years.I was the only white working there and it was like they wanted me out, the higher ups which the were white and the worker bees were all black except me.I am not rasciast or where 70% of my co-workers.We all got along.I was harassed at work and when I brought it to a higher level of attention they would not do anything and acted like I was a idiot.
Then the heat was on they wanted me out and made a point to try torun me off.You know I could have got a lawyer and sued them for tons of money, but that is not the way I am.Plus like you I do not have enough strength or a immune system to fight theese people without it killing me.I just never went back to work and am shifting my whole career into something else.Something that is a more protected job.It is not worth it.There are alot of scums out there.They do not care about people they are just power hungry and get off on hurting others.
Dont worry about it- Major lawsuit.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
http://www.eeoc.gov/types/ada.html
Drug use isn't covered, that why they're trying to put you in that box.
All the answers here are good, look for a lawyer who specializes in cases like this or labor law; find one that will take it on a contingency basis.
They are bullying you because they believe you are too weak to fight! Strike a blow for all people with disabilities! |
