Hi,
First of all, New York is an "at will" employment state, so I have no idea what my rights are.
However, I am concerned I will be fired tomorrow. Long story short, I am one of the senior employees in my department who has continually been overworked, underpaid and watched everyone surpass me simply because I always have a smile on my face and never say no to doing the work that no one else wants to (e.g. data entry). I am the first employee in my position to ever pass an audit in 26 years. I passed the audit every year since I've been here (5 years in February 2010). I've submitted in writing that I am overworked during/after the holidays and after the annual audit. After this past audit, I had a breakdown and ended up in the psychiatric ward of a hospital for work related and personal reasons. I returned to work 2 weeks ago (I was out 5 business days and submitted a Doctor's note). All was well, except while I was away they found one check accidentally stuck to some other paperwork and my boss thinks the piles of paper on my desk are unsightly and I don't file as often as I should. I'm sure they've labeled me a "basketcase". I did my work for two weeks while trying to adjust to new medication to ease my nerves. I couldn't sleep, so my Doctor had me stop taking Ambien and put me on Seroquel. I had a terrible reaction to Seroquel and I don't recall the two days following taking it for the first time. I took it Weds night, called in sick on Thursday (barely conscious) and I don't really remember Friday. I didn't call in. It was a medical issue. I was hallucinating - I think it was a frightening and dangerous situation. Once I started coming-to, I sent an email explaining everything Friday night to my 2 bosses, and I offered a Doctor's note explaining what happened. I never heard back and they have shut off my remote access so I can work from home this weekend to try and make up for missing 2 days.
I always get my work done (everything is scanned to the network, which is why the paperwork doesn't need to be filed right away). I just have WAY more work than the rest of my co-workers to be able to take the time to clean my office every day. Plus, my direct supervisor gives me my priorities and we meet weekly and check them off (and she has never complained - she actually says I'm overworked and the others don't do as much as I do - but her boss is out to get me).I do not surf the internet more than my co-workers. I never take a lunch (they mostly do), I work lots of overtime (salaried), and I do everyone's dirty work. They send offensive joke emails and are no more innocent than I - with regard to any humor or harrassment or any offensive office behavior. But, I don't really have a way to prove it unless a court subpoena'd their emails and web history and compared it to mine.
Help?
First of all, New York is an "at will" employment state, so I have no idea what my rights are.
However, I am concerned I will be fired tomorrow. Long story short, I am one of the senior employees in my department who has continually been overworked, underpaid and watched everyone surpass me simply because I always have a smile on my face and never say no to doing the work that no one else wants to (e.g. data entry). I am the first employee in my position to ever pass an audit in 26 years. I passed the audit every year since I've been here (5 years in February 2010). I've submitted in writing that I am overworked during/after the holidays and after the annual audit. After this past audit, I had a breakdown and ended up in the psychiatric ward of a hospital for work related and personal reasons. I returned to work 2 weeks ago (I was out 5 business days and submitted a Doctor's note). All was well, except while I was away they found one check accidentally stuck to some other paperwork and my boss thinks the piles of paper on my desk are unsightly and I don't file as often as I should. I'm sure they've labeled me a "basketcase". I did my work for two weeks while trying to adjust to new medication to ease my nerves. I couldn't sleep, so my Doctor had me stop taking Ambien and put me on Seroquel. I had a terrible reaction to Seroquel and I don't recall the two days following taking it for the first time. I took it Weds night, called in sick on Thursday (barely conscious) and I don't really remember Friday. I didn't call in. It was a medical issue. I was hallucinating - I think it was a frightening and dangerous situation. Once I started coming-to, I sent an email explaining everything Friday night to my 2 bosses, and I offered a Doctor's note explaining what happened. I never heard back and they have shut off my remote access so I can work from home this weekend to try and make up for missing 2 days.
I always get my work done (everything is scanned to the network, which is why the paperwork doesn't need to be filed right away). I just have WAY more work than the rest of my co-workers to be able to take the time to clean my office every day. Plus, my direct supervisor gives me my priorities and we meet weekly and check them off (and she has never complained - she actually says I'm overworked and the others don't do as much as I do - but her boss is out to get me).I do not surf the internet more than my co-workers. I never take a lunch (they mostly do), I work lots of overtime (salaried), and I do everyone's dirty work. They send offensive joke emails and are no more innocent than I - with regard to any humor or harrassment or any offensive office behavior. But, I don't really have a way to prove it unless a court subpoena'd their emails and web history and compared it to mine.
Help?
