Last post Wed, Jan 09 2008 12:12 AM by DoninJoliet. 8 replies.
Hi Sugar n Spice,
Couple of things...First, If you feel you were terminated because of your disability, you can contact the EEOC and make a complaint. They will do an initial investigation. If they feel that you were discriminated against, they will file suit agains the company on your behalf. If they feel that you do not have a case, you will be given the option of using a private attorney. There are time limits so be sure to act quickly if you are going do anything. Keep in mind, the burden of proof of discrimination is on your shoulders, not Dick's. Second, most people can be terminated during a probationary period without any reason having to be given and there is usually not any challenging that can be done about that. Third, if you were late because of your disability, you need to tell the employer the reason immediately so accommodations can be put in place. If you don't tell them and you get a warning, you can't go back and have the warning removed, you just have to be sure accommodations are put in place for the next time a problem with transportation occurs. There are a lot of other issues that come into play so it is hard to reply via a discussion board. You are welcome to contact me if you have further questions or want additional information. Hope this info. helps.
Hey S&S
Sorry about your termination with Dicks...these employers have no hearts and quite unfortunately there's so little you can do
Joe
vrdawson: Third, if you were late because of your disability, you need to tell the employer the reason immediately so accommodations can be put in place. If you don't tell them and you get a warning, you can't go back and have the warning removed, you just have to be sure accommodations are put in place for the next time a problem with transportation occurs.
sugar_n_spice_kk:no offers were EVER made of assistance
Did you suggest any assistance that they didn't agree to provide or allow? It wouldn't be their responsibility to just offer assistance out of the blue because many of the laws view us as the expert of what we need. Looking back-what type of accomodation do you think you would have needed?
The laws actually protecting people with disabilities in these situations are unfortunately vague. Do you feel like you fired for a disability-related reason or due to transportation problems? Transportation challenges are something that many workers have to face and just from listening to many friend/associate over the year, it seems to be a common reason that people have difficulty maintaining a job if the bus system isn't reliable.
I'm sorry about the really bad timing-and what a way to start the new year:-( I hope you get a new job that's a better fit!
Technically, according to the ADA, employers do not have to accommodate for the means by which an employee gets to work, i.e changing work scheduled because of bus route. If the person is late to work because of their disability, i.e. narcolepsy or sleep apnea or Obssessive compulsive disorder, then accommodation discussions would be in order. Unfortunately, being late because of a bus route is not going to be covered.
As for the tax credit, they will only get a credit for the hours that you actually worked. You would have had to work for up to 240 hours for them to get the full credit. It could be possible for you to call the organization at the State level that handles the tax credits in your state and ask for your form to be pulled. I don't know if they would do that or not but it would be worth checking. If you have a VR counselor, they could tell you who to contact because they have to send in documentation that you are a VR consumer - if the tax credit was for hiring a person with a disability vs. the other categories that employers can get tax credits from. If you suspect that this company is doing this with lots of their employees, i.e. hiring, allowing the work hours, then firing, then they should be investigated by the IRS. You can make an anonymouse report to the IRS concerning what happened and your suspicions of abuse.
I do hate that all of this happened during the Holidays. I hope that you find another job shortly. You may want to check out a website that I think is great! It is www.elance.com and it offers the opportunity for you to work from home and bid on jobs that you would like to do. May want to just check it out. I refer a lot of my clients to the website when they are looking for additional work or have to work from home. Hope this helps.
You can contact the Department of Human Rights in your state, also you can contact the EEOC, the equal employment opportunity commission. Did you ask your employer for accommodation's due to the bus transportation by law they must accommodate.
Hopefully, your still receiving your SSDI, under social security if you returnto work you may receive your SSDI for 9 months due to companies doing what they did to u.
They took the tax crdit, but they actually can't use it because you were not employed 91 days.
