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Newly diagnosed, 16 yrs old and Fired from job! Help!
Sun, 01/09/2005 - 13:17Comments
RE: Newly diagnosed, 16 yrs old and Fired from job! Help!
Submitted by Karrity on Fri, 2005-02-25 - 23:48
RE: Newly diagnosed, 16 yrs old and Fired from job! Help!
Submitted by mhanniga on Sat, 2005-02-26 - 09:18
Shelley,
Yes, as everyone else has been saying, being fired because of her epilepsy is in violation of the ADA. I don't think her being a teenager matters, if the state says she's old enough to work then she should be protected by any of the employement laws. I would suggest first going to the manager to discuss the situation in a non-threatening manner. If Under the law the employer is required to provide reasonable accomodation and in this case educating him/herself and the other employees would be the accomodation. If the owner refuses to give her her job back then the next step would be to file a complaint with the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). You won't have to hire a personal attorney which would be expensive. In my experience (I'm in HR and do work regarding pre-employment testing), most cases are resolved at this level. Someone previously mentioned that the number of employees does make a difference. If there are 15 or fewer employees the law does not apply. Part of what the law says is that an accomodation can not cause the employer "undue hardship" so I guess that at some point the lawmakers reasoned that the expense of any accomodation for a small business would cause "undue hardship". Although there is really no expense associated with educating other employees, the law is the law. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try.
I think so far everyone has said that when your daughter applies for another job she should talk about her disability up front. My opinion is that she should not. The only reason to tell is if she requires a reasonable accomodation to perform the job. The fact that she was doing an exceptional job prior to having her seizure indicates that she can. She got sick at work, it could happen to anyone. I personally have never revealed up front that I have temporal lobe epilepsy because it doesn't affect my ability to do my particular kind of work. None of the supervisors I have had in my current job know. I've told two co-workers primarily because it came up naturally in conversation and I trust them not to treat me any differently because of my epilepsy. A lot of others with epilepsy disagree with my opinion but sadly discrimination does exist especially with epilepsy. I have partial seizures and I have them at work and no one notices when I do. If I ever had a complex partial with loss of consciousness I might tell then, but legally I wouldn't have to. At this point everyone knows I do my job well (if I do say so myself!) : ) and hopefully no one would hold it against me.
Good luck to your daughter and you as well. I hope you can resolve this issue without having to get into a messy legal battle and that any future employers are more "reasonable" in their reactions if your daughter has another seizure on the job.
Mary Ann
Shelley,
Yes, as everyone else has been saying, being fired because of her epilepsy is in violation of the ADA. I don't think her being a teenager matters, if the state says she's old enough to work then she should be protected by any of the employement laws. I would suggest first going to the manager to discuss the situation in a non-threatening manner. If Under the law the employer is required to provide reasonable accomodation and in this case educating him/herself and the other employees would be the accomodation. If the owner refuses to give her her job back then the next step would be to file a complaint with the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). You won't have to hire a personal attorney which would be expensive. In my experience (I'm in HR and do work regarding pre-employment testing), most cases are resolved at this level. Someone previously mentioned that the number of employees does make a difference. If there are 15 or fewer employees the law does not apply. Part of what the law says is that an accomodation can not cause the employer "undue hardship" so I guess that at some point the lawmakers reasoned that the expense of any accomodation for a small business would cause "undue hardship". Although there is really no expense associated with educating other employees, the law is the law. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try.
I think so far everyone has said that when your daughter applies for another job she should talk about her disability up front. My opinion is that she should not. The only reason to tell is if she requires a reasonable accomodation to perform the job. The fact that she was doing an exceptional job prior to having her seizure indicates that she can. She got sick at work, it could happen to anyone. I personally have never revealed up front that I have temporal lobe epilepsy because it doesn't affect my ability to do my particular kind of work. None of the supervisors I have had in my current job know. I've told two co-workers primarily because it came up naturally in conversation and I trust them not to treat me any differently because of my epilepsy. A lot of others with epilepsy disagree with my opinion but sadly discrimination does exist especially with epilepsy. I have partial seizures and I have them at work and no one notices when I do. If I ever had a complex partial with loss of consciousness I might tell then, but legally I wouldn't have to. At this point everyone knows I do my job well (if I do say so myself!) : ) and hopefully no one would hold it against me.
Good luck to your daughter and you as well. I hope you can resolve this issue without having to get into a messy legal battle and that any future employers are more "reasonable" in their reactions if your daughter has another seizure on the job.
Mary Ann
RE: Newly diagnosed, 16 yrs old and Fired from job! Help!
Submitted by ajones on Fri, 2005-02-25 - 21:45
Shelly,
You can also get in touch with your local labor department. They have labor laws and you can file a complaint against the company for discrimination. On top of which, if you have a better business bureau, you may file a complaint with them also. I would look on the US Department of Labor website and I'm sure you can find a local number to your state department of labor along with finding out if there are any other civil actions of discrimination your daughter can take. She should be able to file for unemployment also. Unless your state has an age limit, I would definitely check with your local unemployment office and file against that company.
Shelly,
You can also get in touch with your local labor department. They have labor laws and you can file a complaint against the company for discrimination. On top of which, if you have a better business bureau, you may file a complaint with them also. I would look on the US Department of Labor website and I'm sure you can find a local number to your state department of labor along with finding out if there are any other civil actions of discrimination your daughter can take. She should be able to file for unemployment also. Unless your state has an age limit, I would definitely check with your local unemployment office and file against that company.