At the time this happened, I never made a complaint and should have...mostly a combination of severe depression, anger, and not fully understanding the laws. Basically, back in 2003, I worked as a police dispatcher and had numerous pain-related problems for some time. I was also developing memory problems and other problems from undiagnosed fibromyalgia. I also believe (but never got diagnosis or treatment) that they caused me PTSD as a result of several stressful calls that we were never "debriefed" on....death of a close friend, suicide of another friend, near-death of my grandmother, and many more. I had multiple nervous breakdown like episodes in the 6 years I worked there and for some time afterwards.
We were supposed to perform one of the tasks a particular way, which was painful for me...so I did it another way. I informed them more than once that the way they preferred was painful, and yet they ordered me to do it that way (I didn't fully understand accommodations at that time or would have made a formal request to alter the job). Anyway, during one shift, my Sgt. (Also my union rep.) reprimanded again for doing it differently. I was VERY sore and stressed, and explained to him why I was doing it differently...and was told that if I didn't do it that way it was insubordination. I told him that due to the pain, I could not do the task the way they were asking. Once the Chief came in, I was called into his office along with the Sgt (not acting as my union rep, so I had NO representation), and we went through the same thing again. The chief then said that if I was refusing to perform the task the way they wanted, I could quit or be fired...I quit (to look better on resume...stupid me).
Now that I'm more informed on the law, I see just how many horrible things they did that I should have pursued.
At the very least, they discriminated against me, possibly caused me PTSD, and possibly brought on my fibromyalgia. I know the time limit is up to pursue anything with the government as far as the discrimination, but I'm wondering if I have any other legal options to still pursue against them. I know it's been a long time since I left there, but they did a lot of damage.
Thanks for any input!
We were supposed to perform one of the tasks a particular way, which was painful for me...so I did it another way. I informed them more than once that the way they preferred was painful, and yet they ordered me to do it that way (I didn't fully understand accommodations at that time or would have made a formal request to alter the job). Anyway, during one shift, my Sgt. (Also my union rep.) reprimanded again for doing it differently. I was VERY sore and stressed, and explained to him why I was doing it differently...and was told that if I didn't do it that way it was insubordination. I told him that due to the pain, I could not do the task the way they were asking. Once the Chief came in, I was called into his office along with the Sgt (not acting as my union rep, so I had NO representation), and we went through the same thing again. The chief then said that if I was refusing to perform the task the way they wanted, I could quit or be fired...I quit (to look better on resume...stupid me).
Now that I'm more informed on the law, I see just how many horrible things they did that I should have pursued.
At the very least, they discriminated against me, possibly caused me PTSD, and possibly brought on my fibromyalgia. I know the time limit is up to pursue anything with the government as far as the discrimination, but I'm wondering if I have any other legal options to still pursue against them. I know it's been a long time since I left there, but they did a lot of damage.
Thanks for any input!
