police officer with seizures!! HELP??? - Epilepsy Message Board

bellaflor · 05-28-2002, 10:51 PM

My fiance is a police officer who has just been diagnosed wiyh idiopathic seizures (unknown cause). He is not taking well to the news because he can be fired according to his contract. His first seizure was during his sleep. He had been working at ground zero during the days prior after the world trade center tragedy. Now 8 months later he has had his second one also during his sleep. he has been put on tegratol 3x a day. He wants to pretend this never happened and go on working without telling anyone. If anyone out there has gone through a similiar situation and similiar job what did you do and did they fire you? Please Help.

Kimba523 · 05-29-2002, 05:38 PM

The best website for you is the Epilepsy Foundation or a search engine looking for the ADA (American Disability Act). When it comes to being fired for Epilepsy you need to know your rights.

Kimba

Ksavage · 05-29-2002, 06:27 PM

I was an assistant for a surgeon & they fired me. YES, because I have E! They got away with it because of time I missed at work due to my seizures. Mine are a bit different than your husbands though. I average about 2-3 a month & an in bed at least 2 days following one. There are ways for people to get fired & I have read the ada & everyone tells you that you can't loose your job because of an illness but you sure can. They can do anything they want to & they can usually get away with it! I hate to sound so negative, but I think it is crap that people can get away with it! I realize that I am not very dependable at the moment but eventually things will have to get better & now I am afraid to use my last employer as a refernce & I did nothing wrong & should not have to omit that from my resume! Sorry to vent on you! Things will work out for you & your husband! Hang in there & keep us posted!
Thanks for listening.
Kim

Krazykcio · 05-29-2002, 10:01 PM

Hi, I wasn't fired, but had my work hours cut. I work at a teen center, and the "Powers that Be" decided I need an adult coworker scheduled to work the same nights I work in case I have a seizure. I feel like a child! It's not as if these teens aren't capable of calling for help if I'm in trouble.

It's too bad that your fiancee had to face the tragedy of 9/11, and then to have to face a seizure disorder on top of it all. Unfortunately, any member of a Fire or Police Department has to act quickly, and remain alert at all times. He may just have to rethink his career path until he gets his seizures under control. Good Luck, and give him a big hug and thank-you from just about everyone on this board (I'm guessing!)

Kathy

darlene · 05-30-2002, 12:53 AM

I agree with Kim, there might be laws that say they can't fire you for Epilepsy or any other disability, but they will always find a way around it if they want to bad enough, and there is usually nothing you can do to prove it either. This happened to my daughter when she first started her anti-seizure medication and they were having trouble adjusting to the correct dosage. She was having problems with concentrating and retaining the information, plus feeling sick until her body became accustomed to the new meds. and YES they did fire her, the excuse they used was that she couldn't keep up with the rest of them. The ones she was being compared to had been on the job for at least a year or longer than she had been. I've worked in the private industry for a long time and when there is no untion contract to protect you they can get rid of you for any reason they choose, valid or not. However, I would like to think that as a Police Officer there would be something in his union contract that would protect his job, even if it meant he might have to change his specific type of job, such as from driving a patrol car to maybe a desk job??

Darlene