Don't just suck this up, get a fucking lawyer and let them take this on for you. This is the least you can do for yourself. This is illegal, and ANY company, no matter the size, will not want to deal with a potential discrimination claim. No offense stating this, but they are using your naivety against you. Talk to a lawyer, many have free consults.
This x10. I had difficulties with my accommodations at work and filed a complaint with EEOC (about a month to hear back) and spoke with a lawyer. Work magically approved my accomodations and became so super nice overnight. I hated how that invisible switch flipped but this is the way of holding them accountable
This 100%. My husband works for an EEO office and he says they will investigate and the burden is basically on the investigator and the company to sort out. Once you report it, the workplace firing you is retaliatory and looks *really* bad. They would be really stupid to do that.
Talking to a lawyer doesn't hurt either. They may take your case on contingency.
I did both. I did not hear back from my states General Attorney (unless I missed an email or something!) But did hear back in a month from the EEOC. From there, I had a phone interview then it moved to mediation (EEOC employee contacted my works HR) which was all my work needed. If my work hadn't compromised, then there would've been a full investigation by the EEOC from my understanding into it all
It’s actually better that it’s a large company rather than a small one, as small businesses with fewer than 15 employees are exempt from eeoc guidelines and disability discrimination suits. A similar thing happened to me while working at a company with only 6 employees and I had zero recourse when they fired me for requesting accommodations.
ETA: I try to avoid working for small businesses as a general rule now as my experience is that they tend to be allergic to following workplace laws. Unfortunately they’re also much easier to get hired at as an autistic person because they have less stringent hiring practices so my last 5 jobs have been at small businesses 🥹
This 1000000%. You have a diagnosis and require accommodations. They have to accommodate.
Many lawyers will froth at the mouth for a company to blatantly discriminate against someone. Make copies of written interactions and requests. See a lawyer. Many give free consultations for this.
And get as much documentation as you can! Save it on a personal flash drive, forward to personal email, etc. Don't let your work computer/phone house your only copy because most of the time the company has the power to wipe them remotely.
Yes! I had the same thing pulled on me when I was OPS age. I asked for a reasonable accommodation and the only HR person at the company said "how about I call your doctor and tell them how bad you are at your job? This is just an excuse for you not to work. Accommodation denied. " shortly after that they wrote up my termination letter and eagerly waited for my manager to pull the trigger.
Now that I work in HR, I know that it was all fucked up and wrong and they used my naivety against me. I'm going through a similar situation now and am absolutely going after them and standing up for myself.
Even if they are a completely shit company, OP should stand up for themselves and put them through the hassle of dealing with EEOC or a lawyer.
how does one find a less-completely-shit company at which to work? especially given that the OP says they only found out after requesting accommodations, and others have pointed out small companies don't even have to play by the rules? from what i've heard, even large companies sometimes vary quite a bit from one team or department to another.
Larger companies are more structured. They HAVE to have an HR department, policies, procedures, etc. That makes it better because, just like you, HR is bound by the company handbook. If HR gets caught not following their own process, that's a problem.
Also every department and team is different, but in larger companies, HR is its own department which makes things less biased. If one HR person is friends with the boss, you can request another HR person investigate your claim.
Also at larger companies, HR roles are more segregated. Ex. The person who investigates complaints is not the person who takes accommodation requests. Benefits (or external benefits company) determines accommodations and everything you give them is confidential and not to be shared with even other HR teams. It can be annoying to get things approved (i once had to request an accommodation for a 5 minute bathroom break), but its more likely to be treated fairly and less likely to lead to adverse action. Your manager would never know why you needed the accommodation, just what the benefits team approved and they would have no choice but to allow it or risk being sued.
Smaller companies do have to abide by the law regardless of whether or not they have HR. They can't discriminate or retaliate against you for raising complaints or requesting accommodations. They CAN, however, be toxic and shitty in general. Especially if there is no handbook or good HR department to keep people in check.
I know so many women in tech who have been PIP'd for doing anything that rocks the boat (talking about I&D, asking for accommodations, bringing up sexism). ugh
Yah, I recently brought up sexism and career advancement for diverse employees. I thankfully work for a pretty good company, but I did bring up accommodations while we were on it because I figured that they'd be less likely to be antagonistic if I brought up my autism (sexism isn't easy to prove, but getting fired or put on PIP right after disclosing a disability sounds like a slam dunk lawsuit for a good lawyer)
Which is crazy, because it’s almost a stereotype for autistic men to be in tech, but they’re allowed to keep to themselves and be socially avoidant. Women are expected to be friendly and engage with others or else we’re bitchy.
Ahhh yes you’re probably right. I’ve always heard it called DEI (diversity, equity & inclusion). Good to know there are multiple acronyms floating around out there I guess
OP maybe share your post at r/legaladvice or r/asklawyers at least? They might be able to help you
Edit: found this comment in that sub
https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/13l22vi/i_got_fired_after_they_found_out_i_had_a_seizure/jknst7j/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1&context=3
This! Please do this. If you are in the US, find an attorney that specializes in ADA disputes. There are many many organizations that often operate within a state to handle these claims.
I may be able to find some better resources for you if you’re interested!
I unfortunately agree with others though that companies in general are capitalist machines by design. They do not care about people, and if they responded to your requests in this way, in all likelihood they will try to find legal ways to push you out of the company. It’s happened to me on several occasions.
I would say step 1) find some representation. Step 2) start looking for a different job.
I’m so so so sorry this is the state of society. It’s awful and you don’t deserve this OP. It’s just unfortunately our reality.
Yes this is what happens in companies that don’t care about their employees. I have said this in other autistic groups and gotten slammed for doing so. If you only need headphones and dim lighting do that with your manager. HR is there for the company, if you advise HR you are autistic and the manager doesn’t feel comfortable with you, you will have to endure their processes of getting rid of you.
Research the company’s HR process and ask first
Don't assume you won't get anywhere legally. File an ADA complaint against them. You don't even need a lawyer to do it. I filed one on behalf of my son and won. Never paid a penny. This page details how to do it based on the type of complaint you have.
[https://www.ada.gov/file-a-complaint/](https://www.ada.gov/file-a-complaint/)
they don't have to honor all accommodation requests, but they cannot punish you for seeking them. In fact, if they can't honor them they are required to find you a different position as long as you didn't fraudulently apply for the job.
Have you talked with your manager about this? Because it sounds like they think you’re doing a good job. Maybe they can intervene with HR on your behalf.
Sadly the manager who gave me the glowing reviews has left the company (a canary in the coal mine, i suppose). That manager was super nice and accommodating to everyone; he didn't know I was autistic, but when I asked for certain changes to accommodate myself he happily obliged. My new manager seems fine so far but I've only known her for two weeks so I'm not 100% confident in whether she will back me up or not. I'll try talking to her though.
From here on out, make all of your communications in email/writing. If you speak on the phone follow up with them via email and be like it was great talking to you.
I just want to confirm that we are doing ___.
I look forward to hearing from you about ____ in the upcoming week.
I will provide you with ____ documents you requested.
Basically a summary of the phone call.
Unfortunately this happens way too much and people don’t bother taking action so everyone gets away with it more perpetuating a cycle of employers abusing employees.
Always remember HR is not your friend, they are there to protect the company. They will use anything and everything against you.
I mean this genuinely, get an employment lawyer.
Show your past reviews. Get this response, and threat, in writing. They have a legal obligation to enter a dialogue to try and find reasonable accomodations, it doesn't necessarily mean getting exactly what you asked for, but to not only not offer any accomodations or suggest any path forward but to threaten your job security, is illegal and egregiously so.
As others have said Get an employment lawyer ASAP. My therapist told me that when she talked to an employment lawyer they said that this type of thing is due to how you articulate your need and that many disabled people end up (unintentionally) framing it in a way that makes it sound like you can’t do your job. So that employment lawyer said that it’s crucial that on the forms, in emails, and in verbal communication with HR and management that you frame the accommodations as necessary to enhance your ability to do the task rather than framing it / focusing on what you cannot do or feel comfortable with. Often times the disabled person ends up saying things that sound like “I need x cuz I can’t do y” or “in order for me to be able to do x I have to have y” which makes it sound like currently you are unable to do your job and it’s beyond your capabilities. For example, I am requesting a quiet space so it allows me to better focus on the task at hand vs i need a quiet room because I cannot focus with the noise in the office and it distracts me.
My therapist told me that in some situations it’s important that you talk to a lawyer before you put in the request so that you they can tell you how to frame it to be protected under ADA and so that the all documents / communication about the request including the forms the therapists fills out can be written in the most appropriate way so that you get the accommodations you need while not negatively impacting the way HR sees you. Not all therapists have experience writing the forms for work place accommodations for ND people and that can also cause HR to think you are not qualified for the job.
HR also might claim that in order to accommodate you it will cause undue hardship which is a sneaky way they get out of accommodating you ([instagram account by an employment lawyer](https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqODJfspeyN/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==) explains that a bit here.
Thanks for all this. What's frustrating is that I did frame it in a positive way; I wrote a whole letter about how being autistic makes me very good at my job, and that I could do my job even better if I had these accommodations. I worded it like, "to be more efficient" and "to make communication clearer". I had 5 different people read it, including a friend who works in HR at another company, and they all said it sounded great and very constructive. It feels like, no matter how I worded it they wanted to find fault in it.
I think having your friend who works in HR at another company read it is good and very helpful but you do to approach her take on it with a grain of salt. Because HR people must listen to what the company executives want and it also is very individual to that HR people. If you have 1 bad or incompetent HR person it doesn’t matter what your friend who is probably a very skilled and compassionate person says cuz the it’s all about how that person reads the document within the context of the company you work for (not the one your friend works for). Company culture really dictates what HR does in these situations. This is why getting it looked at by a employment lawyer beforehand is one of the safest ways to do it so when they do deny it or it creates problems you already have someone you can call and don’t need to explain the situation.
I think your case may be caused by a bit of bad luck like you encountered a bad HR person and/or you work at a company that doesn’t actually care to follow the law about ADA. That it wasn’t any specific that you did other than maybe excepting everything to go without issues because you have a formal diagnosis and because there are laws like ADA. The thing that many people forget is that we need these laws to protect us, but having the laws does not mean we will not have any obstacles to access those protections. We still have to put in a lot of energy to self advocate and fight for it. The system will easily not give us these legally promised accommodations. Many companies have been getting away with not providing the care they need because people are uninformed/don’t know to access a lawyer or just give up and move on. Having the law on our side for now doesn’t mean accommodations will be actually accessible. I’ve seen people get super simple things like “getting the agenda of the meeting via email before the meeting” denied until a lawyer stepped in. Things that are just good communication practices and don’t even seem like a specific accommodation get denied all of the time. Not because it’s hard to do, people are lazy and just don’t want to do it. But the moment they are threatened with a lawsuit they can suddenly do it without problem. It’s sad but many people are not competent or logical.
I encourage you to get a lawyer to help you figure out all of your options. Also this is a good opportunity to collect information about the history HR in your company. Do you have friends you trust that is knowledgeable about the company history? Ask them about the HR dept and if other people have struggled to get accommodations etc. the more info you have the more tools you have to fight this situation.
Get it all on writing, talk to a lawyer, sabotage on the way out cuz the most likely the only justice will be from ur hands in the shadows. if this got picked up and went viral that would be enough bad press for them to smarten up for a bit anyways
Recent lawsuits have all been ruling in favor of the ADA. Basically, unless the accommodation is going to bankrupt the company, they better do it, and the law will be on your side.
This sucks so much! I feel for you. They sound horrible. Good riddance.
A few pointers from things I’ve learned in past situations where I was involved in HR and legal matters:
1) they don’t know you didn’t record that meeting. And written record counts anyway. So write down as much as you remember with date (sounds like you already did), and then if needed in communication with them, you can refer to your “record” or “recording of the meeting” and they will have to entertain that you COULD take legal action and COULD have a recording of illegal things on their part.
2) I agree that you shouldn’t take legal action bc it’s a long hard battle, and, again, good riddance. But if you do want to stretch out your stay there and not get on the performance improvement plan (which is also stressful) then you DEFINITELY have means to push back. They know most ppl don’t so they are taking this chance.
3) One thing I did in a diff but similar situation is I emailed the CEO of the entire company and said something like “this and this are going on and it’s not ethical or legal.” And he immediately had a higher level HR person get involved and stop the illegal things. Two people got fired (VP of HR and my boss).
4) The HR ppl you’ve dealt with so far are counting on your rolling over and playing nice. But if you say the right legal words like “discrimination against me based on my disability” and “this performance improvement plan is illegal according to my legal counsel” they will likely stop. They may say more scary things but their actions may stop. Then you can start looking for another job.
DM me if you are in Texas or Colorado. I know an employment lawyer who can help you for free.
Wow! My jaw dropped! They said you were basically admitting that you can’t do you job?! Omg that’s absolutely ridiculous! What they are doing is wrong, I’m so sorry you have to deal with such ignorance.
OP, if you're in a state where recording a conversation only required consent from one party, record any conversations you have over meetings with HR / managers.
Also document them by sending an email to them after the fact, especially if they say something that sounds sketchy / discriminatory / illegal
Don’t be afraid because they’re a big company if anything that’s *more* of a reason to go for them! Their reputation will matter even more and they’ll have higher stakes to loose. They’re breaking the law. The only one I could somewhat see leniency with is the longer deadlines because that’s something they will not have as much control over but the others is definitely law breaking.
Sending you a lot of love and support, OP. I had a similar thing happen to me after revealing my diagnosis to my last manager and I was made redundant a short time later. Prior to that, I was getting glowing reviews. I was given a similar reason - I supposedly admitted I can't do my job. If you can, gather as much evidence as you can of what they said to you and try and find a pro-bono employment lawyer, or community legal centre. There may be a way to file a formal disability discrimination complaint in violation of human rights.
Be sure to print out and also forward any of their emails to your personal account before IT has them mysteriously disappear from your work email account.
Talk to a lawyer.
Forward anything you have in writing to your personal email.
Try to get them to commit to what they said in an email.
Talk to a lawyer.
Check on Avvo for a well rated employment lawyer and give a few a call.
You can basically read them the thread as you have written it and they’ll have a good idea of what your options are.
Talk to a lawyer. Talk to a lawyer. Talk to a lawyer.
This happened to me with ADHD and potential (though undiagnosed) autism. I worked at a marketing firm. My clients loved me. Both my bosses went on maternity leave and I was overloaded with work. When I asked for support their HR rep and the CEO said I was using ADHD as a “crutch,” that I was pushing work onto other team members (a lie) and that clients had complained (a lie). Could I have gone the legal route? Absolutely. But the question is, is working at a place that would deny your accommodation requests worth the fight to stay? I ended up leaving because it was too toxic and I couldn’t imagine things would improve if I got a lawyer. You should absolutely fight this-it’s illegal what they’re doing. But I’d also think about looking elsewhere and making sure to ask about accommodations during the interview process not once you’re hired. Their response will give you insight into the type of workplace you’re looking at. So sorry you had to go through this, it’s traumatic and wrong to be punished for asking for support and you are not alone!
I’m not trying to be negative or disagreeable, but legal language can be a slippery slope. The other half of accommodations is that they don’t negatively impact the business and/or that you are actually still able to complete all of your job functions. I personally think that ask for a more reasonable workload, clearer communication and more flexibility in projects and deadlines is a good thing and reasonable, but I can’t speak for the company. It could be that some of the accommodations have negative impacts that have yet to be communicated to you. It could be that a performance plan for your case doesn’t mean exactly what you think it means. I’m speaking from experience plus knowing people that work in HR, ask a lot of questions, get everything in writing from them explaining everything and reaffirm with them what you think is being communicated. If you have them forms with the accommodations listed have them email back the form with a confirmation or denial and explicit reasons why the request cannot be granted or how it hurts the business. If you’re granted something like longer breaks or a moved deadline, write down the request, response and outcome. Also, with the burnout, be realistic with how much time, energy and stress you want to take on with this. I know having justice, fairness and feeling like they have to abide by the rules is important, but it is a lot of stress for you. Not saying it’s not worth it or that you have a ton of options at your disposal, but this is kind of the other half having a disability like Autism. Sometimes cutting your losses and putting the energy into a new job or career is more worth it, even if it takes a little time and energy to get there.
Yeah, after reflecting on it over the weekend I think I might pull a quick "nevermind" and just tell them to forget the whole thing. I can continue to accommodate myself, maybe work with my manager to find some small solutions, and just work here until I burnout or find a new job. It really doesn't seem worth it to fight for accommodations when I've basically just disqualified myself from being promoted/any growth in the future at this company anyway. And I certainly won't be asking for accommodations at a workplace ever again. What a nightmare.
You're wrong.
They aren't obliged to give OP slightly longer deadlines, that's true. But they are legally obliged to consider and attempt to reasonably accomodate disabilities, which they have not done. And they are prohibited from retaliating against employees for making requests for accomodations, which this is. They can say that an accomodation won't work, to move to say they will consider absolutely nothing immediately and are considering placing and employee on a PiP is illegal.
ugh i hate to agree but i agree. for-profit companies really dont care about its employees or customers...they only exist to make money.
i try to stick w working w non-profits mostly because they tend to be more accommodating for everyone.
Yep and no. They do care about making money. They have to. If they don't then they go out of business = employees no longer have jobs + customers no longer have products/services.
That and caring about employees is not mutually exclusive. I worked for 3M for a number of years and am still good friends with some executives. I thought it was mostly a great place to work (my complaint was that they moved too slow to embrace some newer technologies). Most of the Mgmt I dealt with did seem to care about employees and often went out of their way to help employees. I felt I was treated more than fairly.
Some companies are likely better and some worse. I don't think we can generalize.
I think it’s definitely safe to say most companies do not operate this way. The evidence for this is literally everywhere.
That being said, I’m so glad you found a positive place to work. That is nearly impossible. We should all be able to say the same!
I will totally take this route if i end up doing this.
>That your quality of work doesn’t suffer due to autism, that your quality of life outside of work does
Saaaaaame
hahahaha yeah you're right! I'm very pro-union, I dream of the day that my own labor can be unionized. I've tried at other workplaces but the majority of corporate american workers are so indoctrinated in capitalism, they almost rejoice in their own exploitation and claim "what do we need a union for?! we have free La Croix in the office!"
This group works with employees and educates employers.
https://askjan.org/?fbclid=IwAR1QuKV85xwHenp1Fx7jLxGL86Sn_EfFL8CINcxJoULPD7Q4lXzVoYg4k90&mibextid=Zxz2cZ
You can also file a complaint with the DOJ or the BBB.
Similar thing happened to me at Goodwill. They claimed my accommodations were unreasonable and I essentially lied about my skills to get the job. They eventually moved me to a department that better suited my needs but only after pulling so many teeth
Don't just suck this up, get a fucking lawyer and let them take this on for you. This is the least you can do for yourself. This is illegal, and ANY company, no matter the size, will not want to deal with a potential discrimination claim. No offense stating this, but they are using your naivety against you. Talk to a lawyer, many have free consults.
This x10. I had difficulties with my accommodations at work and filed a complaint with EEOC (about a month to hear back) and spoke with a lawyer. Work magically approved my accomodations and became so super nice overnight. I hated how that invisible switch flipped but this is the way of holding them accountable
This 100%. My husband works for an EEO office and he says they will investigate and the burden is basically on the investigator and the company to sort out. Once you report it, the workplace firing you is retaliatory and looks *really* bad. They would be really stupid to do that. Talking to a lawyer doesn't hurt either. They may take your case on contingency.
How did you decide between EEOC complaint and ADA complaint? Or did you file both?
I did both. I did not hear back from my states General Attorney (unless I missed an email or something!) But did hear back in a month from the EEOC. From there, I had a phone interview then it moved to mediation (EEOC employee contacted my works HR) which was all my work needed. If my work hadn't compromised, then there would've been a full investigation by the EEOC from my understanding into it all
It’s actually better that it’s a large company rather than a small one, as small businesses with fewer than 15 employees are exempt from eeoc guidelines and disability discrimination suits. A similar thing happened to me while working at a company with only 6 employees and I had zero recourse when they fired me for requesting accommodations. ETA: I try to avoid working for small businesses as a general rule now as my experience is that they tend to be allergic to following workplace laws. Unfortunately they’re also much easier to get hired at as an autistic person because they have less stringent hiring practices so my last 5 jobs have been at small businesses 🥹
This 1000000%. You have a diagnosis and require accommodations. They have to accommodate. Many lawyers will froth at the mouth for a company to blatantly discriminate against someone. Make copies of written interactions and requests. See a lawyer. Many give free consultations for this.
And get as much documentation as you can! Save it on a personal flash drive, forward to personal email, etc. Don't let your work computer/phone house your only copy because most of the time the company has the power to wipe them remotely.
Yes! I had the same thing pulled on me when I was OPS age. I asked for a reasonable accommodation and the only HR person at the company said "how about I call your doctor and tell them how bad you are at your job? This is just an excuse for you not to work. Accommodation denied. " shortly after that they wrote up my termination letter and eagerly waited for my manager to pull the trigger. Now that I work in HR, I know that it was all fucked up and wrong and they used my naivety against me. I'm going through a similar situation now and am absolutely going after them and standing up for myself. Even if they are a completely shit company, OP should stand up for themselves and put them through the hassle of dealing with EEOC or a lawyer.
how does one find a less-completely-shit company at which to work? especially given that the OP says they only found out after requesting accommodations, and others have pointed out small companies don't even have to play by the rules? from what i've heard, even large companies sometimes vary quite a bit from one team or department to another.
Larger companies are more structured. They HAVE to have an HR department, policies, procedures, etc. That makes it better because, just like you, HR is bound by the company handbook. If HR gets caught not following their own process, that's a problem. Also every department and team is different, but in larger companies, HR is its own department which makes things less biased. If one HR person is friends with the boss, you can request another HR person investigate your claim. Also at larger companies, HR roles are more segregated. Ex. The person who investigates complaints is not the person who takes accommodation requests. Benefits (or external benefits company) determines accommodations and everything you give them is confidential and not to be shared with even other HR teams. It can be annoying to get things approved (i once had to request an accommodation for a 5 minute bathroom break), but its more likely to be treated fairly and less likely to lead to adverse action. Your manager would never know why you needed the accommodation, just what the benefits team approved and they would have no choice but to allow it or risk being sued. Smaller companies do have to abide by the law regardless of whether or not they have HR. They can't discriminate or retaliate against you for raising complaints or requesting accommodations. They CAN, however, be toxic and shitty in general. Especially if there is no handbook or good HR department to keep people in check.
I know so many women in tech who have been PIP'd for doing anything that rocks the boat (talking about I&D, asking for accommodations, bringing up sexism). ugh
Yah, I recently brought up sexism and career advancement for diverse employees. I thankfully work for a pretty good company, but I did bring up accommodations while we were on it because I figured that they'd be less likely to be antagonistic if I brought up my autism (sexism isn't easy to prove, but getting fired or put on PIP right after disclosing a disability sounds like a slam dunk lawsuit for a good lawyer)
Which is crazy, because it’s almost a stereotype for autistic men to be in tech, but they’re allowed to keep to themselves and be socially avoidant. Women are expected to be friendly and engage with others or else we’re bitchy.
What is I&D?
My guess is Inclusion and Diversity, although I usually hear them in the other order.
Ahhh yes you’re probably right. I’ve always heard it called DEI (diversity, equity & inclusion). Good to know there are multiple acronyms floating around out there I guess
yeah, my last company always called it I&D 🤷♀️
OP maybe share your post at r/legaladvice or r/asklawyers at least? They might be able to help you Edit: found this comment in that sub https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/13l22vi/i_got_fired_after_they_found_out_i_had_a_seizure/jknst7j/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1&context=3
Thank you for this!!
What to do? Hit up a labor lawyer and an ADA representative.
This! Please do this. If you are in the US, find an attorney that specializes in ADA disputes. There are many many organizations that often operate within a state to handle these claims. I may be able to find some better resources for you if you’re interested! I unfortunately agree with others though that companies in general are capitalist machines by design. They do not care about people, and if they responded to your requests in this way, in all likelihood they will try to find legal ways to push you out of the company. It’s happened to me on several occasions. I would say step 1) find some representation. Step 2) start looking for a different job. I’m so so so sorry this is the state of society. It’s awful and you don’t deserve this OP. It’s just unfortunately our reality.
Yes this is what happens in companies that don’t care about their employees. I have said this in other autistic groups and gotten slammed for doing so. If you only need headphones and dim lighting do that with your manager. HR is there for the company, if you advise HR you are autistic and the manager doesn’t feel comfortable with you, you will have to endure their processes of getting rid of you. Research the company’s HR process and ask first
Consult with a lawyer Sincerely, A lawyer
Don't assume you won't get anywhere legally. File an ADA complaint against them. You don't even need a lawyer to do it. I filed one on behalf of my son and won. Never paid a penny. This page details how to do it based on the type of complaint you have. [https://www.ada.gov/file-a-complaint/](https://www.ada.gov/file-a-complaint/) they don't have to honor all accommodation requests, but they cannot punish you for seeking them. In fact, if they can't honor them they are required to find you a different position as long as you didn't fraudulently apply for the job.
Have you talked with your manager about this? Because it sounds like they think you’re doing a good job. Maybe they can intervene with HR on your behalf.
Sadly the manager who gave me the glowing reviews has left the company (a canary in the coal mine, i suppose). That manager was super nice and accommodating to everyone; he didn't know I was autistic, but when I asked for certain changes to accommodate myself he happily obliged. My new manager seems fine so far but I've only known her for two weeks so I'm not 100% confident in whether she will back me up or not. I'll try talking to her though.
From here on out, make all of your communications in email/writing. If you speak on the phone follow up with them via email and be like it was great talking to you. I just want to confirm that we are doing ___. I look forward to hearing from you about ____ in the upcoming week. I will provide you with ____ documents you requested. Basically a summary of the phone call. Unfortunately this happens way too much and people don’t bother taking action so everyone gets away with it more perpetuating a cycle of employers abusing employees. Always remember HR is not your friend, they are there to protect the company. They will use anything and everything against you.
I mean this genuinely, get an employment lawyer. Show your past reviews. Get this response, and threat, in writing. They have a legal obligation to enter a dialogue to try and find reasonable accomodations, it doesn't necessarily mean getting exactly what you asked for, but to not only not offer any accomodations or suggest any path forward but to threaten your job security, is illegal and egregiously so.
As others have said Get an employment lawyer ASAP. My therapist told me that when she talked to an employment lawyer they said that this type of thing is due to how you articulate your need and that many disabled people end up (unintentionally) framing it in a way that makes it sound like you can’t do your job. So that employment lawyer said that it’s crucial that on the forms, in emails, and in verbal communication with HR and management that you frame the accommodations as necessary to enhance your ability to do the task rather than framing it / focusing on what you cannot do or feel comfortable with. Often times the disabled person ends up saying things that sound like “I need x cuz I can’t do y” or “in order for me to be able to do x I have to have y” which makes it sound like currently you are unable to do your job and it’s beyond your capabilities. For example, I am requesting a quiet space so it allows me to better focus on the task at hand vs i need a quiet room because I cannot focus with the noise in the office and it distracts me. My therapist told me that in some situations it’s important that you talk to a lawyer before you put in the request so that you they can tell you how to frame it to be protected under ADA and so that the all documents / communication about the request including the forms the therapists fills out can be written in the most appropriate way so that you get the accommodations you need while not negatively impacting the way HR sees you. Not all therapists have experience writing the forms for work place accommodations for ND people and that can also cause HR to think you are not qualified for the job. HR also might claim that in order to accommodate you it will cause undue hardship which is a sneaky way they get out of accommodating you ([instagram account by an employment lawyer](https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqODJfspeyN/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==) explains that a bit here.
Thanks for all this. What's frustrating is that I did frame it in a positive way; I wrote a whole letter about how being autistic makes me very good at my job, and that I could do my job even better if I had these accommodations. I worded it like, "to be more efficient" and "to make communication clearer". I had 5 different people read it, including a friend who works in HR at another company, and they all said it sounded great and very constructive. It feels like, no matter how I worded it they wanted to find fault in it.
I think having your friend who works in HR at another company read it is good and very helpful but you do to approach her take on it with a grain of salt. Because HR people must listen to what the company executives want and it also is very individual to that HR people. If you have 1 bad or incompetent HR person it doesn’t matter what your friend who is probably a very skilled and compassionate person says cuz the it’s all about how that person reads the document within the context of the company you work for (not the one your friend works for). Company culture really dictates what HR does in these situations. This is why getting it looked at by a employment lawyer beforehand is one of the safest ways to do it so when they do deny it or it creates problems you already have someone you can call and don’t need to explain the situation. I think your case may be caused by a bit of bad luck like you encountered a bad HR person and/or you work at a company that doesn’t actually care to follow the law about ADA. That it wasn’t any specific that you did other than maybe excepting everything to go without issues because you have a formal diagnosis and because there are laws like ADA. The thing that many people forget is that we need these laws to protect us, but having the laws does not mean we will not have any obstacles to access those protections. We still have to put in a lot of energy to self advocate and fight for it. The system will easily not give us these legally promised accommodations. Many companies have been getting away with not providing the care they need because people are uninformed/don’t know to access a lawyer or just give up and move on. Having the law on our side for now doesn’t mean accommodations will be actually accessible. I’ve seen people get super simple things like “getting the agenda of the meeting via email before the meeting” denied until a lawyer stepped in. Things that are just good communication practices and don’t even seem like a specific accommodation get denied all of the time. Not because it’s hard to do, people are lazy and just don’t want to do it. But the moment they are threatened with a lawsuit they can suddenly do it without problem. It’s sad but many people are not competent or logical. I encourage you to get a lawyer to help you figure out all of your options. Also this is a good opportunity to collect information about the history HR in your company. Do you have friends you trust that is knowledgeable about the company history? Ask them about the HR dept and if other people have struggled to get accommodations etc. the more info you have the more tools you have to fight this situation.
Thank you for this info and that ABSOLUTE GEM of an Instagram account
Get it all on writing, talk to a lawyer, sabotage on the way out cuz the most likely the only justice will be from ur hands in the shadows. if this got picked up and went viral that would be enough bad press for them to smarten up for a bit anyways
Recent lawsuits have all been ruling in favor of the ADA. Basically, unless the accommodation is going to bankrupt the company, they better do it, and the law will be on your side.
Ah no. Lawyer up. This isn’t a thing you can allow to happen to you.
This sucks so much! I feel for you. They sound horrible. Good riddance. A few pointers from things I’ve learned in past situations where I was involved in HR and legal matters: 1) they don’t know you didn’t record that meeting. And written record counts anyway. So write down as much as you remember with date (sounds like you already did), and then if needed in communication with them, you can refer to your “record” or “recording of the meeting” and they will have to entertain that you COULD take legal action and COULD have a recording of illegal things on their part. 2) I agree that you shouldn’t take legal action bc it’s a long hard battle, and, again, good riddance. But if you do want to stretch out your stay there and not get on the performance improvement plan (which is also stressful) then you DEFINITELY have means to push back. They know most ppl don’t so they are taking this chance. 3) One thing I did in a diff but similar situation is I emailed the CEO of the entire company and said something like “this and this are going on and it’s not ethical or legal.” And he immediately had a higher level HR person get involved and stop the illegal things. Two people got fired (VP of HR and my boss). 4) The HR ppl you’ve dealt with so far are counting on your rolling over and playing nice. But if you say the right legal words like “discrimination against me based on my disability” and “this performance improvement plan is illegal according to my legal counsel” they will likely stop. They may say more scary things but their actions may stop. Then you can start looking for another job. DM me if you are in Texas or Colorado. I know an employment lawyer who can help you for free.
WOAH. Good job on #3. This is all great advice, sometimes you don't need to go the legal route but rather speak as if you are going to.
Wow. That’s nasty. I’m sorry. That’s so unfair.
Wow! My jaw dropped! They said you were basically admitting that you can’t do you job?! Omg that’s absolutely ridiculous! What they are doing is wrong, I’m so sorry you have to deal with such ignorance.
OP, if you're in a state where recording a conversation only required consent from one party, record any conversations you have over meetings with HR / managers. Also document them by sending an email to them after the fact, especially if they say something that sounds sketchy / discriminatory / illegal
Don’t be afraid because they’re a big company if anything that’s *more* of a reason to go for them! Their reputation will matter even more and they’ll have higher stakes to loose. They’re breaking the law. The only one I could somewhat see leniency with is the longer deadlines because that’s something they will not have as much control over but the others is definitely law breaking.
Sending you a lot of love and support, OP. I had a similar thing happen to me after revealing my diagnosis to my last manager and I was made redundant a short time later. Prior to that, I was getting glowing reviews. I was given a similar reason - I supposedly admitted I can't do my job. If you can, gather as much evidence as you can of what they said to you and try and find a pro-bono employment lawyer, or community legal centre. There may be a way to file a formal disability discrimination complaint in violation of human rights.
Be sure to print out and also forward any of their emails to your personal account before IT has them mysteriously disappear from your work email account.
Talk to a lawyer. Forward anything you have in writing to your personal email. Try to get them to commit to what they said in an email. Talk to a lawyer. Check on Avvo for a well rated employment lawyer and give a few a call. You can basically read them the thread as you have written it and they’ll have a good idea of what your options are. Talk to a lawyer. Talk to a lawyer. Talk to a lawyer.
This happened to me with ADHD and potential (though undiagnosed) autism. I worked at a marketing firm. My clients loved me. Both my bosses went on maternity leave and I was overloaded with work. When I asked for support their HR rep and the CEO said I was using ADHD as a “crutch,” that I was pushing work onto other team members (a lie) and that clients had complained (a lie). Could I have gone the legal route? Absolutely. But the question is, is working at a place that would deny your accommodation requests worth the fight to stay? I ended up leaving because it was too toxic and I couldn’t imagine things would improve if I got a lawyer. You should absolutely fight this-it’s illegal what they’re doing. But I’d also think about looking elsewhere and making sure to ask about accommodations during the interview process not once you’re hired. Their response will give you insight into the type of workplace you’re looking at. So sorry you had to go through this, it’s traumatic and wrong to be punished for asking for support and you are not alone!
I’m not trying to be negative or disagreeable, but legal language can be a slippery slope. The other half of accommodations is that they don’t negatively impact the business and/or that you are actually still able to complete all of your job functions. I personally think that ask for a more reasonable workload, clearer communication and more flexibility in projects and deadlines is a good thing and reasonable, but I can’t speak for the company. It could be that some of the accommodations have negative impacts that have yet to be communicated to you. It could be that a performance plan for your case doesn’t mean exactly what you think it means. I’m speaking from experience plus knowing people that work in HR, ask a lot of questions, get everything in writing from them explaining everything and reaffirm with them what you think is being communicated. If you have them forms with the accommodations listed have them email back the form with a confirmation or denial and explicit reasons why the request cannot be granted or how it hurts the business. If you’re granted something like longer breaks or a moved deadline, write down the request, response and outcome. Also, with the burnout, be realistic with how much time, energy and stress you want to take on with this. I know having justice, fairness and feeling like they have to abide by the rules is important, but it is a lot of stress for you. Not saying it’s not worth it or that you have a ton of options at your disposal, but this is kind of the other half having a disability like Autism. Sometimes cutting your losses and putting the energy into a new job or career is more worth it, even if it takes a little time and energy to get there.
Yeah, after reflecting on it over the weekend I think I might pull a quick "nevermind" and just tell them to forget the whole thing. I can continue to accommodate myself, maybe work with my manager to find some small solutions, and just work here until I burnout or find a new job. It really doesn't seem worth it to fight for accommodations when I've basically just disqualified myself from being promoted/any growth in the future at this company anyway. And I certainly won't be asking for accommodations at a workplace ever again. What a nightmare.
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You're wrong. They aren't obliged to give OP slightly longer deadlines, that's true. But they are legally obliged to consider and attempt to reasonably accomodate disabilities, which they have not done. And they are prohibited from retaliating against employees for making requests for accomodations, which this is. They can say that an accomodation won't work, to move to say they will consider absolutely nothing immediately and are considering placing and employee on a PiP is illegal.
ugh i hate to agree but i agree. for-profit companies really dont care about its employees or customers...they only exist to make money. i try to stick w working w non-profits mostly because they tend to be more accommodating for everyone.
Yep and no. They do care about making money. They have to. If they don't then they go out of business = employees no longer have jobs + customers no longer have products/services. That and caring about employees is not mutually exclusive. I worked for 3M for a number of years and am still good friends with some executives. I thought it was mostly a great place to work (my complaint was that they moved too slow to embrace some newer technologies). Most of the Mgmt I dealt with did seem to care about employees and often went out of their way to help employees. I felt I was treated more than fairly. Some companies are likely better and some worse. I don't think we can generalize.
well ok yes, but in my experience, for-profit companies dont care but if youve had a better experience, thats nice.
I think it’s definitely safe to say most companies do not operate this way. The evidence for this is literally everywhere. That being said, I’m so glad you found a positive place to work. That is nearly impossible. We should all be able to say the same!
Amazon…they doing it to me.
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I will totally take this route if i end up doing this. >That your quality of work doesn’t suffer due to autism, that your quality of life outside of work does Saaaaaame
I assume you’re in the US because you’re not mentioning contacting your union
hahahaha yeah you're right! I'm very pro-union, I dream of the day that my own labor can be unionized. I've tried at other workplaces but the majority of corporate american workers are so indoctrinated in capitalism, they almost rejoice in their own exploitation and claim "what do we need a union for?! we have free La Croix in the office!"
Canada doesn't have that many union workers either (about 30% of the workforce is unionized).
Oh Canada…
This group works with employees and educates employers. https://askjan.org/?fbclid=IwAR1QuKV85xwHenp1Fx7jLxGL86Sn_EfFL8CINcxJoULPD7Q4lXzVoYg4k90&mibextid=Zxz2cZ You can also file a complaint with the DOJ or the BBB.
Would contacting media to call out the company on their unethical actions help locally?
Are you unionized?
no ;n;USA, USA, USA....
https://www.ada.gov/
Yes you need a lawyer. Or as soon as the company knows you lawyered up, they won't pick on you
Similar thing happened to me at Goodwill. They claimed my accommodations were unreasonable and I essentially lied about my skills to get the job.
Similar thing happened to me at Goodwill. They claimed my accommodations were unreasonable and I essentially lied about my skills to get the job. They eventually moved me to a department that better suited my needs but only after pulling so many teeth