Discrimination/Harrasment etc.....

[justlost]

I'll try to make this brief. I have been w/this co for 17yrs, I am a
salary based supervisor. Normally work 8-10hrs per day, take work home and work some weekends. For the last year I have been using Family Medical Leave(approved by doc) intermidiately because I have Multiple Scelrosis. I can no longer work those long hrs, I can oly work 6hrs per day. In the beginning, my employer told me nothing of what would happen when I had used up my FMLA. Matter of fact, I ask this ? and they told me that when my year of FMLA was up, just to have the doc complete a new set of paperwork. So, I thought all was fine. In
March 2001 they called me to HR and told me they were going to have to cut my pay to 75%, because of the lesser hrs, I agreed with that, but at the same time told them I would not be taking any more work home with me or I would not be calling into the office once I left for the day. If they are only going to pay me for 6hrs, then thats all I'm going to work - they agreed.
At the same time, they told me that once the FMLA was used up for the year - I would not have any additional hrs for the new year to protect my pay or position, because they us the "rolling back calendar". So they told me I had to options - take a lesser paying position"if they have one" that can let me work 6hrs day or go onto the company paid Short Term Disability. After a lot of researching, crying, and soul searching I took the STD. The HR people also told me start the paperwork on the Long Term Disability to see if I would be approved. NOW - I feel that I have been discriminated against - I know I want get the Long Term, because my doc tells me/them that I should work and I can work, just not the amt of hours they want. What can I do???? I am so emotionaly drained over this I dont know what to do. I have call many attorneys, they all charge approx $300 per hr to hear my story, but tell me up front -they really dont think anything has been done wrong - well I feel wronged!
Who should I talked to? IS there anything I can do about all this.
I gave them 17 years of my life and I end up with nothing- once the 6months of Short Term is over - I have no benefits... and now I cant get any because of the MS.......
Please help me make since of this

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I'm very sorry to hear about your story. I'm not sure how you feel discriminated against. What is very disheartening is hearing people take work home and do things for a company that they treat like people -- but unfortunately this is not the case. Your loyalty and dedication may not be rewarded even though morally one would think it should be.

I think the real question is whether you were given false or deliberately misleading information. I'm not sure whether there is a remedy for you which would have them treat you the way you treated the company for 17 years -- and the executives who benefitted from your work. I think it is probably best if you explain explicitly what wrong was committed against you besides this moral wrong for which I do not believe you can be recompensed. I could be wrong, but that's the way I see it.

 

[justlost]

I feel that I was "wronged" for several reasons:
I was never told how FMLA works, as for the "rolling backward"
calander year. Therefore, I had know idea that I was creating
a problem for myself. In the beginning if they would have
explained this to me I would have been more carefull with the
hours I was using up. But they waited until the last couple of
months to tell me this. I went to the labor board and they said
"well at least they told you" even if it was at the last minute....
Also, since I have MS, shouldn't I be covered by Americans Disabiltiy Act? They said they would put me in another position "if they have one", but would never go into any detail. Everytime I ask about that position, they always pushed the Disability paper work a little closer to me. They always ask, why dont you want
to go on the Short Term Disability, you would get 80% of your
current salary. If you take another position and then have to go on disability, you would then only get 80% of what ever that pay is and it will be lower. I really think they wanted me to select the Short Term Disability and to be honest I was so sick of trying to decide what to do and having to deal with upper management asking me why cant my doc let me work just 8 hours instead of 6,
that I just wanted to scream.
I love to work, I want to work, I need the income but most of all
I MUST have the benefits. I can not get any life ins and I am not sure about the medical ins. But, there just seems like there should be something that could help me. I just keep thinking I gave them 17 years of my life and I end up with ----.... If I thought there was anyway I could get some compensation I would risk the $(that I dont have) to go to a lawyer, but this Co is a major corporation and I know they had there lawyers proof everything they did. I know this for a fact.... So I must think that
it was all on the up and up. It's just seems like everything was going great, I was doing my job (never had a neg review), my department of 6 people was going better than ever and then they hit me with this. Talk about a shock..... Of course they waited until I had got the cast off my leg, I broke in January, and came to work everyday..... in a wheel chair. Not to mention that I had 2/10's of a mile from my car door to my desk of a ride, which I pushed all the way.... But they call that Handicap Acces....
Well, thank you for your reply - I guess I might as well face the fact that there is nothing I can do about this.... I'll just have to try to find some type of work I can do from home and not put my "all" into another company.....
Thanks again,