I signed a contract that prevents me outrightly revealing the name of the company I worked for, but they’re one of, if not the, biggest tech company for handheld devices we currently have in the global market.

We had a LOT of issues in that place from customers to business practices and nearly everything in between. My current partner managed to stick it out longer than I did, so I heard more even after I was gone and it did not improve the higher up the ranks he climbed. Ultimately he chose to retain what was left of his fraying sanity and quit. The stories I have could fill a book.

I’ve sat on this story for a while, but with every rejection from workplaces I feel less and less obligated to keep quiet about companies’ underhanded practises regarding discrimination in the workplace. So here’s how I lost my job with this place…

First though it’s important to know I have several physical and mental handicaps regarding employability. From good old depression, PTSD and dissassociative personality disorder through to spinal stenosis and bilatoral polycystic ovarian syndrome to name a few. I’m in chronic pain 24/7 from my back and abdomen, averaging about 5-7 out of 10 at any given time. Cyst ruptures are a common occurance, and often result in trips to the ER. When people ask what that pain is like, the best analogy I have would be imagine pouring battery acid in an open wound but not being able to flush it out with water.

As a result of these various conditions I’m on some heavy duty painkillers and antidepressants. Due to having built up tolerances over the years, the side effects are very much manageable, until a new medication is introduced to the list. I was open with my employers about my conditions and medications, HR were called in and after a few meetings it was decided that I was OK to continue employment as long as my medications container be under lock and key when not in use. No worries.

My TL was great and had no issues with my sporadic trips to the locker for pain meds during shifts as long as I let him know whenever I took something. He left early one afternoon and I had a replacement TL, let’s call him Dirtbag.

I hadn’t interacted with Dirtbag personally before at this point, although he had a reputation for laziness and overreacting to drama, so I was a little concerned when I needed meds on-shift and had to approach him like I do with my usual TL. He reacted fine. Let me go take my meds and fussed over me for a few minutes asking if I was OK, needed a break, a water or anything else. I was pleasantly surprised and thanked him for his concern but assured him I was fine and that this was normal. I honestly thought the rumours were wrong since he had seemed genuinely concerned for my wellbeing.

Out of nowhere the next day my usual TL approached me and said I was being stood down until I met some requirements from HR.
What requirements? I was cleared by HR less than a month ago with no actions to take I was aware of. My TL explains there had been a comment of concern made to HR regarding my performance. With no significant drop in performance across my bazillion kpi’s I didn’t understand what he meant, so off we went to HR for a meeting.

HR proceeded to request letters from my GP, specialist and hospital/s to back up my claims of being legitimatly prescribed these medications and why. It’s not the first time a workplace has been less than tactful while making enquiries related to my medications; it’s heavy duty stuff, had only recently been removed from the over-the-counter list and as a result was the biggest thing on the streets for less than legal parties. This request, while rude, was understandable. Then they requested a full review from an independent physiotherapy group on my physical limitations and claims of chronic pain. That’s where I drew the line.

Not only is a physiotherapist expensive as heck, it isn’t covered by my Medicare or my government supplied pensioner healthcare card. It also felt like a huge invasion of privacy and I don’t trust medical companies that are joint/partners of sorts with a workplace as a rule. Trust me on this, it never ends well. So I went to my GP in tears asking what I could do.

His response to my predicament was to write his requested letter and add his own opinion of the matter as a bonus. Turns out he had some decent legal knowledge up his sleeve and he saved my wallet from several hundreds of lost dollars and my privacy in one fell swoop. He also offered to tell them what he thought of them as a HR dept. and a company as a whole.
(I considered his offer, not gonna lie, but ultimately decided against it. You rock though doc!)

I went back armed with everything I needed to clear myself for return to work, meeting my TL beforehand to go over how to navigate the meeting ahead. My TL however, accidently let something slip during that catch up and it changed the whole game irrevocably against my favour.

The reason for this sudden 180 flip from HR was due to Dirtbag. Dirtbag had complained about my medications and usage; claiming he had “grevious concerns” about allowing an employee who’s “constantly under-the -influence” to exist in the building, let alone be “interacting with customers” and “performing difficult problem solving while mentally impaired” as it would be a “stain on the company” if I were to stuff something up…

He straight up called me a junkie using professional language. I was beyond pissed. Being called a junkie is what today’s gen would call my ‘trigger’. I LOATHE my medications and would gladly dump the lot if my pain was manageable in another way. But it’s not, and I’ve learnt the hard way that I simply cannot function without them. Being helpless/dependant is not something I handle well and a loss of choice &/or options is a VERY sore point for me.

I went into that meeting with enough adrenaline coursing through my system to cause my vision to blur, but somehow managed to stay calm and sound reasonable while presenting all of the required documentation. Once done the HR reps deliberated and told me I wasn’t likely to retain employment with the company. Seeing red I asked if this was a result of the glowing letters in my favour being outright ignored or if Dirtbag had anything HE wanted to add to the discussion, and should we go fetch him to weigh in on my rights as as an employee again? The HR reps wore matching expressions of “oh, sh*t” for about a half second before regaining composure and we bandied words back and forth until we reached an “agreement”.

I was to quit, with no negative repercussions against my name for future employability by the company, and in x month’s time I would be accepted back in a different dept. from Dirtbag and never have us interact again. I was less than pleased with this solution, since it left me in a financial tailspin while in the middle of moving house and a rather messy break-up with my partner of 4 years. But with no union support forthcoming, it was the lesser of the evils on the table.

I applied in x months time only to be told that no I would not be re-hired and that “clearly I misunderstood the agreement made at that time”. I’ve looked into my options and have come up empty handed: I simply have no power to hold the company accountable.

My days of walking on eggshells are over. F*ck discrimination. My new cover letter states plainly I have medical obstacles and am willing to be transparent in all dealings with future employers regarding the matter. My job network agency is… less than enthusiastic about this blunt approach but I’m not changing it. We live in a time where this kind of discriminatory behaviour shouldn’t exist and should be met with disciplinary actions for those who engage in it.

Besides, if this cover letter lands me an interview with a company in possession of actual human decency and a functioning moral compass, you can bet your a$$ I’m going to give that company more respect than all my previous employers combined and more dedication to detail in my work within it.

Cover letters are a place to showcase our strengths, not hide our flaws and I won’t pretend to be anything more or less than I am anymore. It’s harmful to both my health AND to the workplace/s I’m part of.

I was using an Uralogist to check my Prostate issue, being 80 yrs old. Pretty normal stuff for my age group. After doing a scan to see that my prostate was over enlarged, and after a couple of test, and information to me, they suggested I get a MRI image. They gave me two differnet companies each with multiple clinics to go to, or find one on my own. Well I pick one just 5 blocks from my house. We go over there immediately, stop at the registration desk and explain what I need and show them my paper work from the Uralogist. I get paperwork to fill out (for 20 minutes) and go to the desk to get a date. They have my insurance card, say it takes 5 to 10 business days to get the insurance okay. Okay, the test is scheduled for 3 weeks later. Now in this day and age, a text, robo phone, or email is sent as a reminder. Nothing from them. We show up and the clerk says that no one contacted the insurance company and they will see if they can get an okay. In the meantime, I fill out some more forms, one of which has about 30 or 40 questions about if I have any metal, or a pace maker (which I have). I am kind of upset, but let it pass until there is no okay and until it has been 30 minutes (I have the first appointment for 8 am). I say, just start the MRI and I can pay now ($300) and submit the bill to the insurance company later. NO, we can’t do that (for some idiotic reason which didn’t make any sense). A few minutes later they say they have the okay, and I go to the back room to gown up. The nurse? takes my paper work and says, “we don’t do MRIs for patients with a pace maker”. Why I didn’t get asked that at the beginning, they don’t know. Now I am really upset. Now comes the worst part.
I call the scheduling number to get another appointment, as I am preped and haven’t eaten for 20 hours. I get the we are busy etc and please hold. Afrter 3 minutes, it states to press 1 if you would prefer a call back. I have done this in the past for other companiess and it works quite well. After about 5 minutes, I think maybe I should get in line again and see if waiting might be faster and I can always hang up and respond to whoever gets to me first. I am on hold for most of 23 minutes before the phone hangs up. Guess how mad I am now. I call again and am on hold for the most of 37 minutes. I am told I can’t get another apointment until they get info from my pace maker company and my cardialogist, a few days at least. I request that a manager call me back. 2 days later I get a call back from hopefully a responsible person who takes all my info and says it will go to a VP. My phone times are correct because I get that info off of my phone records, and also, the call back from day 1 first call never happened and third, the first question from any one on day one should have been “do I have a pace maker”. And in case someone my think I should have told them right away that I have a pace maker, my prostate is below my waist, and my pace maker is just below my collor bone. Also, I had just come from my Dr dicussing cancer probablity, having the biopsy from 12 different places and being very invasive, plus my psa is over 10 when the maximum is 1 to 4. So maybe my mind was in a different place.

My Junior year of high school, I took AP Calculus BC. A friend of mine would call me every night to ask which problems in the book were assigned for homework, even though his twin sister was also in our class.
He is a boy and I am a girl.

Senior year, I had to choose between AP Theory and Harmony and post-AP Calculus 2. Since I was planning to go to school to study music education, I chose Theory and Harmony.

The second week of school, when the homework really gets going, my mom tells me I have a phone call. It’s that friend!

Friend #1: “Hey, have you done the math homework yet? I’m having trouble with the last problem.”

Me: “I’m not taking math this year, I’m in Theory and Harmony instead. Go ask [twin sister].”

Friend #1: “Oh, yeah, sorry! I’ll go do that!”

I thought that was the end of it, but he called me every night that week to ask for the math homework. Finally, after about 10 weeks of this, I start getting another friend in the Calc 2 class to tell me the homework. Naturally, she is curious.

Friend #2: “Are you trying to learn the content without the class? [Math teacher] has mentioned she misses you. You could probably come to school early and she’d just teach you, though there’d be a bit of catching up to do.”

Me: “Honestly, I’m relieved to be done with complicated math. I barely made it to a B last year. No, [Friend #1] called me every day last year to ask about what the math homework is, and he’s doing it again this year.”

Friend #2: “Why doesn’t he ask [twin sister]?”

Me: “No clue. Maybe she fusses at him for not writing it down?”

Friend #2: “Maybe he has a crush on you or something.”

Me: “I seriously doubt it.”

(He had come out as gay to a few of us that summer, but not her.)

Me: “Besides, even if that were the case, he could ask me for the history homework or the economics homework assignments.”

We never could figure out why he kept calling me for the math assignments, but for the rest of the school year, courtesy of Friend #2, I was always able to tell Friend #1 what the math assignment was!

I’m walking around campus to my department building. A professor for my degree, one of whose classes i have attended a year ago before this happens, is exiting the building, clearly in a hurry. She spots me, stops me, and says in a rush:
Professor: “class isn’t cancelled, i just need to get something from another building. I’ll be right back.”
Me: “um, Professor — i don’t actually attend any of your classes this term.”
Professor: *double take* oh! Well you know what they say about absent-minded professors!
We laugh and go our respective ways.

I work for Papa Murphy’s. For those who don’t know, the store is a take and bake pizza place, meaning you pick what you want, we make it, and then you take it home and cook it in your own oven. We cook nothing. I have a conversation akin to this on a daily basis.

Customer, after I’ve handed them their pizza: Wait, you don’t cook it?

Me: No sir, we’re a take and bake, you have to cook it in your oven. It even comes with baking instructions.

Customer: Can…I get a refund?

This one customer is the worst though. Keep in mind, my boss is a woman in her late 70s who’s been doing this for 5+ years.

A lady enters, hmms and haws for 5 minutes about what pizza she wants.

Lady: Can I get a stuffed chicago? (A stuffed pizza is a two-layer pizza)

Boss: Is that all for you today?

Lady: Yes, thank you.

Boss: Can I get a name for the order?

Lady: do you still have the test program, I–

Boss: can I get a name for the order? (this is said only slightly more firm than the first time. We need a name to put on the order)

Lady: You are rude!

After I made her pizza and left we dubbed her the Hoity-toity lady cause that’s what she was.