firedforanxiety
New Member
Hello everyone. I was recently fired from a job at a national corporate retail chain, in California. I have some questions that relate to the conduct of my former employer, and if it could be considered discrimination, or any other form of wrongdoing.
At the end of 2008, I was interview by a manager for this retail chain. In my interview I had a panic attack. I have long suffered from depression and anxiety, and since it was obvious that something was wrong in my interview when this was happening, I admitted my disorder to the manager. He told me that there was a job available in the phone center of the store, and suggested that it would be good for me, since it didn't deal with face-to-face contact. I was hired after a second interview, and was given minimum wage pay.
So I suffer from a mental illness and then they hired me. Makes it hard to suggest discrimination on their part, right?
Well, things at the job went fine for about 10 months. They offered me a job working overnights for six weeks, and I glady took it. I figured getting out of the phone center would be good for me. Once I took the job, the overnight manager informed my immediate supervisor that he "didn't trust me" to be able to do the work that was taking place overnight. So, for the next six weeks, I was to do menial tasks only. For the duration of this six weeks, I was harrassed by other employees over my anxiety, was called "a faggot," and others refused to work with me, even if I was only sweeping up after them, and assisting them in carrying boxes. i asked my supervisor to get the other employees to stop their behavior. Soon after, I was told that I needed to go back to the phone center, and would not be allowed to work overnights any longer.
When I got back to the phone center, the manager who interviewed me came to me and told me he wanted me to be the Store Greeter. This is the same manager who witnessed my panic attack, and suggested the phone center to me. If I refused to greet, I would have been fired. So I greeted, and suffered through several anxiety and panic attacks, and did the job to the best of my ability.
Greeting at this chain is not just waving. you are asked to smile, you have a shpeel you have to say to the customer, exact follow-up questions, and a closing line. there is no one in the store who is hired to be a greeter, but they usually ask cashiers to do it, as they are mostly friendly and outgoing. in fact, being friendly and outgoing are the only qualifications for greeting. there are over 100 employees in the store, so my manager's hands weren't tied when he asked me to greet, nor did he claim such a thing. his reason for asking me to greet was because "it would fair to the other associates."
After two months of greeting, the aforementioned manager put me on disciplinary measure, due to my failure in greeting. He told me I needed to become a perfect greeter in the next two months or I would be fired. He also did not have any evidence of me failing at greeting, he told me that he just heard from others. I should also note that he informed me this on the very day my automatic .50 cent raise was to kick in, as i had been working at the store for one year. I actually thought he was calling me into the office to make my raise official. A month and a half into the measure, he admitted that I was doing a good job, but I would still be fired most likely if I didn't do a "complete 180" personality wise; meaning "become a likable and outgoing person." A week later I came in 15 minutes late because a power-outage prevented my alarm from going off, and i was fired.
I filed for unemployed and was denied, due to my late incidence being considered "gross-misconduct," defined as complete disregard for my employers welfare. i appealed and was denied once again for the same reasons. however, under oath, my former boss lied and said he had actually taken me off the disciplinary measure, and soley fired me for being late. I have in writing him saying that he was going to fire me at the same time he claims he took me off the measure. it also states that i was still on the measure on my termination notice. and according to their store policy, i wouldnt have been fired for coming in late had i not been on the measure.
I'm wondering where I can go from here. I don't ask this because I have a vendetta. I truly believe this was legally unfair, and it wasn't fun to have a constant heart rate of 130 every day for four months. it seems pretty obvious to me that my complaints about harassment didnt go over well somewhere, and i was asked to greet because they thought I would certainly quit. Does this at all look like wrong-doing in the eyes of the law?
At the end of 2008, I was interview by a manager for this retail chain. In my interview I had a panic attack. I have long suffered from depression and anxiety, and since it was obvious that something was wrong in my interview when this was happening, I admitted my disorder to the manager. He told me that there was a job available in the phone center of the store, and suggested that it would be good for me, since it didn't deal with face-to-face contact. I was hired after a second interview, and was given minimum wage pay.
So I suffer from a mental illness and then they hired me. Makes it hard to suggest discrimination on their part, right?
Well, things at the job went fine for about 10 months. They offered me a job working overnights for six weeks, and I glady took it. I figured getting out of the phone center would be good for me. Once I took the job, the overnight manager informed my immediate supervisor that he "didn't trust me" to be able to do the work that was taking place overnight. So, for the next six weeks, I was to do menial tasks only. For the duration of this six weeks, I was harrassed by other employees over my anxiety, was called "a faggot," and others refused to work with me, even if I was only sweeping up after them, and assisting them in carrying boxes. i asked my supervisor to get the other employees to stop their behavior. Soon after, I was told that I needed to go back to the phone center, and would not be allowed to work overnights any longer.
When I got back to the phone center, the manager who interviewed me came to me and told me he wanted me to be the Store Greeter. This is the same manager who witnessed my panic attack, and suggested the phone center to me. If I refused to greet, I would have been fired. So I greeted, and suffered through several anxiety and panic attacks, and did the job to the best of my ability.
Greeting at this chain is not just waving. you are asked to smile, you have a shpeel you have to say to the customer, exact follow-up questions, and a closing line. there is no one in the store who is hired to be a greeter, but they usually ask cashiers to do it, as they are mostly friendly and outgoing. in fact, being friendly and outgoing are the only qualifications for greeting. there are over 100 employees in the store, so my manager's hands weren't tied when he asked me to greet, nor did he claim such a thing. his reason for asking me to greet was because "it would fair to the other associates."
After two months of greeting, the aforementioned manager put me on disciplinary measure, due to my failure in greeting. He told me I needed to become a perfect greeter in the next two months or I would be fired. He also did not have any evidence of me failing at greeting, he told me that he just heard from others. I should also note that he informed me this on the very day my automatic .50 cent raise was to kick in, as i had been working at the store for one year. I actually thought he was calling me into the office to make my raise official. A month and a half into the measure, he admitted that I was doing a good job, but I would still be fired most likely if I didn't do a "complete 180" personality wise; meaning "become a likable and outgoing person." A week later I came in 15 minutes late because a power-outage prevented my alarm from going off, and i was fired.
I filed for unemployed and was denied, due to my late incidence being considered "gross-misconduct," defined as complete disregard for my employers welfare. i appealed and was denied once again for the same reasons. however, under oath, my former boss lied and said he had actually taken me off the disciplinary measure, and soley fired me for being late. I have in writing him saying that he was going to fire me at the same time he claims he took me off the measure. it also states that i was still on the measure on my termination notice. and according to their store policy, i wouldnt have been fired for coming in late had i not been on the measure.
I'm wondering where I can go from here. I don't ask this because I have a vendetta. I truly believe this was legally unfair, and it wasn't fun to have a constant heart rate of 130 every day for four months. it seems pretty obvious to me that my complaints about harassment didnt go over well somewhere, and i was asked to greet because they thought I would certainly quit. Does this at all look like wrong-doing in the eyes of the law?
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