Any lawyers here? I’m disabled but know I have rights

[Yapakanichi]

More specifically in regards to the American with Disabilities Act. I'm being singled out because I've had appointments that relate to my disability and being told I'm missing too much work because of it. Also times I have to take the day off to recup from having an episode.

Any help would be appreciated.

[c1pher]

I would first contact HR and ask about FMLA and STD rules. Then if you’re still perplexed, hire an attorney. My advice is not to shop for one on a car forum or ask for free advice here. You need to find one licensed to practice in your state since although there are federal employment laws, states have specific employment laws too.

[Sea-Tac]

No good lawyer will provide legal advice in a forum like this.

Here's what I would recommend from one BMW fan to another.

Contact the Florida State Bar Association. Ask for the "Lawyer Referral" section. The person that you will be talking to will ask you why you want to see a lawyer. Tell that person what your reasons are. They will provide you with two or three names close to New Smyrna Beach who have experience with ADA issues, etc.

There will be a small charge that you will pay to the lawyer when you go see her/him. Usually, its between $35.00 and $50.00. If you cannot afford to pay that, some lawyers on the referral circuit may do it pro bono (free). The referral person can give you more details.

I think this is the best and safest option for you to consider. good luck.

[Mingwan]

I feel like if they can’t get you for having to leave work frequently due to your disability, they’ll just try getting you on something else unless you’re flawless at work.

When I worked at Best Buy, we hired on a manager that had some major health issues which caused him to call into work a lot. HR ultimately fired him on some “other mistakes.”

[DETRoadster]

Your employer is required by law to make "reasonable accommodations" for your disabilities. They are not required to make every accommodation. What is reasonable and what is not is essentially up to your employer to define and up to your lawyer to argue if you disagree. It sucks but that's the reality, in so far as I know. Good luck. Definitely seek some professional advice from an employment attorney if you feel your employer is not holding up their end of the deal. Employment law as it relates to disabilities is very specialized so make sure you seek out an attorney who specializes in it.

[grancouper428]

It would be nice to know what "missed too much work" really means. Are we talking days/weeks/months? I'm assuming months since I've seen FMLA scenarios. We had a veteran with major back problems in my office and after he took FMLA for about half the year he was let go (not cool IMO). Not sure how it all went down since I'm not in management. I'm sure there's only so much accommodating a company is willing to provide until they cut the cord. I hope you get the help you seek but it might be hard to get whatever it is that you want.

[Yapakanichi]

I believe you are all correct. I was looking to speak with someone to see if I'm going crazy or not in regards to what is going on.

Half a year off work? No not at all, we're talking not even like a whole week missed work because of it.

I'll be calling around and speaking with lawyers today. Thank you all for your assistance in steering me the right direction.

[Maestro]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

Your employer is required by law to make "reasonable accommodations" for your disabilities. They are not required to make every accommodation. What is reasonable and what is not is essentially up to your employer to define and up to your lawyer to argue if you disagree. It sucks but that's the reality, in so far as I know. Good luck. Definitely seek some professional advice from an employment attorney if you feel your employer is not holding up their end of the deal. Employment law as it relates to disabilities is very specialized so make sure you seek out an attorney who specializes in it.

This is true, I had lots of training on this subject being a hiring manager and I was required to be aware of this and employers are required to make reasonable accommodation. However, this has to be made up front, meaning the individual has to have a conversation with the employer and explain what are the limitations and what is reasonably required to accommodate the specific disability. If the employer refuses then there is good case. If this conversation has not happen with the employer then it is going to be a much hard battle.

Just taking time off, using vacation and sick time they can not hold that against you, if you taking time off without pay, little more or grey area. Most companies have a requirement of how much time you are required to work. If you can not work those hours they have a right to terminate especial if you work in an at will employee state.

Not specific to this situation, I was in the process of terminating a person due to poor performance. Working my way down the documentation path, the individual knew what I was doing since we have conversation about action plans. The next day the person went to HR and told them he had a disability (never told me) which was affecting his work performance and I was told by HR to back off and stop the documentation process and we were required to see what could be to accommodate the person. In the end we did nothing since the person decide to quit as long as we did not challenge their unemployment claim.

The long and short, the company has to be formally notified of the disability, it has to be one recognized by the ADA, then accommodation have to be discussed and agreed upon, only after this if the employer does not live up to their responsibilities is there a case.

As other pointed out need to find an ADA lawyer general lawyers without this background can not help much.

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by Maestro

This is true, I had lots of training on this subject being a hiring manager and I was required to be aware of this and employers are required to make reasonable accommodation. However, this has to be made up front, meaning the individual has to have a conversation with the employer and explain what are the limitations and what is reasonably required to accommodate the specific disability. If the employer refuses then there is good case. If this conversation has not happen with the employer then it is going to be a much hard battle.

Just taking time off, using vacation and sick time they can not hold that against you, if you taking time off without pay, little more or grey area. Most companies have a requirement of how much time you are required to work. If you can not work those hours they have a right to terminate especial if you work in an at will employee state.

Not specific to this situation, I was in the process of terminating a person due to poor performance. Working my way down the documentation path, the individual knew what I was doing since we have conversation about action plans. The next day the person went to HR and told them he had a disability (never told me) which was affecting his work performance and I was told by HR to back off and stop the documentation process and we were required to see what could be to accommodate the person. In the end we did nothing since the person decide to quit as long as we did not challenge their unemployment claim.

The long and short, the company has to be formally notified of the disability, it has to be one recognized by the ADA, then accommodation have to be discussed and agreed upon, only after this if the employer does not live up to their responsibilities is there a case.

As other pointed out need to find an ADA lawyer general lawyers without this background can not help much.

Good points and spot on.

To add to what you are saying, for the benefit of the OP, it's not enough for the employee to simply disclose that he/she has a medical condition. The employee must disclose AND request specific accommodations be made. As a rule it's best to make this disclosure and ask for accommodations before the condition has an impact on your work, but I've seen it happen the other way around. I attempted to terminate an employee for drinking on the job. When he walked into the conference room and HR was sitting there with a stack of papers he knew what was up. Before we could say anything he said "I'm an alcoholic and I want to go to treatment", knowing my company provided free treatment access. We were stuck. We had to make accommodations. He went through a month of treatment on our dime, made it another month on his own, and was back to drinking on the job. At that point we were able to terminate.

OP, my recommendation to you is to reach out to your HR department (and cc your boss) in writing. Tell them you have a disability and you need the company to make reasonable accommodations (use that exact phrase), up to and including accommodations for medical appointments, missed work, etc. I've seen shady HR departments say they never had a certain convo with an employee so do it in writing and cc at least one other person such as your dept. manager.

You may be able to work this all out without an employment attorney. Your HR and direct manager's response to your letter will tell you if you need to turn the heat up and talk to an attorney.

[EALm4]

Originally Posted by knowthebattle

More specifically in regards to the American with Disabilities Act. I'm being singled out because I've had appointments that relate to my disability and being told I'm missing too much work because of it. Also times I have to take the day off to recup from having an episode.

Any help would be appreciated.

Damn. Best of luck to you. If your disability is what I'm thinking of I can totally sympathize and relate.

There's so much gray area in HR and procedures around reasonable accommodation and what that actually means. Your manager can spin things one way and HR can spin them another. I think everyone can relate to that regardless of what end of the spectrum you're on.

[JohnnyCanuck]

I think you've received some good advice in this thread about not relying on the advice of car forum members in something like this. Even those of us with specific expertise in the area aren't able to offer help (eg. a Canadian perspective is of little use to you) or have to think about whether it's appropriate from a professional ethics or a conflict of interest perspective.

The best advice was posted earlier in this thread ... start with your company's HR department and then consult with a lawyer if you still have issues. I will give advice on the lawyer selection: cardinal rule #1 is never hire someone because you've seen their advertising.

Also, because Florida is a jurisdiction which publishes court decisions online read through some human rights decisions from Florida courts to educate yourself on your issue and to see what lawyers have effectively argued employment discrimination cases. Invest a few hours in your own research,

[Darth One]

i'm not a lawyer either, so this is another layman's opinion. although i am an employer in the state of Florida, and i'm well aware of ADA rights and the proper usage of FMLA and intermittent FMLA (the latter is what i'd probably offer you if the absences became a long term thing).

i do want to say, though, that who the fuck would hassle a disabled person for a total of a week's worth of absences?? that doesn't even sound like an FMLA case - you should just be allowed to take sick time. because, you know, you're sick.

again, please remember that i'm not a lawyer - but this is how my company would handle all this.

[c1pher]

Originally Posted by Darth One

i'm not a lawyer either, so this is another layman's opinion. although i am an employer in the state of Florida, and i'm well aware of ADA rights and the proper usage of FMLA and intermittent FMLA (the latter is what i'd probably offer you if the absences became a long term thing).

i do want to say, though, that who the fuck would hassle a disabled person for a total of a week's worth of absences?? that doesn't even sound like an FMLA case - you should just be allowed to take sick time. because, you know, you're sick.

again, please remember that i'm not a lawyer - but this is how my company would handle all this.

My company had an unlimited sick leave policy (within reason) where if you needed a dr appt or needed to stay home a couple days so you didn’t make everyone else sick, you could take that time without eating into PTO. But we operate in multiple states, some of which mandate sick time, so now we give everyone an extra week of vacation. Thing is the average person took two days of sick per year, so now company wide we give everyone five days they will now take.

[Maynard]

For ADA issues you may find very expert, and free, legal advice from specific advocacy groups (specific to your condition - for example epilepsy, spinal cord injuries, mental health, etc.). Companies will routinely try to intimidate solo citizens, but they really pucker up at the thought of somebody (a well-funded and expert legal team) wanting to use them as a test case.

Are you a Veteran? VA has Vocational Rehab programs that extend into preserving worksites, often with incentives to employers (and in our area, it isn't hard to find pro bono legal assistance). Also some good non-VA advocacy groups - nobody looks good firing disabled Veterans.

It really helps to have signed notes from providers that detail what accommodations are being requested/used; this will be necessary for any formal actions, but it often sorts things out early in the negotiations (many managers fancy themselves experts on what is 'necessary'). It also helps to show them you are doing e/t possible to minimize time off (if your docs have off-hours, use them, but few clinics do).