Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! I lost my job! - Epilepsy Message Board

^enigma^ · 10-17-2002, 08:19 PM

Well, I have read about several of you that have lost your job due to E and thought this would never happen to me because my job has been so great about this whole thing. When I started taking meds for it about 3 months ago I had some very bad reactions.

The 1st med I tried was dylantin which made me break out in a big rash all over my body for a few days untill it got it out of my system. Then I tried depakote, which for about 1.5 months made me so sleepy that I slept all the time. For 2 weeks I was going to work and would have to take a nap during the day for about 2-3hours at about 1 to 2 times a day. They were fine with this and actually paid me for it when I offered to clock out. After 2 weeks of this my boss talked to me and offered to recommend me for short term disability untill I could get the seizures under control and get the meds stabalized. He told me to take as long as I needed and to not worry about my job . Monday will be exactly 3 months that I have been gone from work and this week I started talking to them about coming back to work. Cuz I finally seem to have it all under control. I finally got them to return my call today and they told me that I would not be able to resume my position. I would have to start completely over as if I was just hired on.

This means taking a paycut of about 50% and loosing all the responsibility, seniority, authority that I had! I have been working for this company for over 2 years and was a supervisor there. Ive received numerous awards from them for being an excelent employee and I also developed some software for them that solved a huge problem that they had been trying to fix since before I was working there(which they still use today and havent found anything that would even come close to replacing it). Unfortunately Ive already given them the full rights to the software and I was never paid a dime for it!

I really cant beleive that they did this to me and I think that if I have to start over I would rather do it somewhere else.

Sorry for the long post but I had to vent and you guys have always been so great at listening to me vent.

Thanks for listening.

Brad.

Krazykcio · 10-17-2002, 09:33 PM

Hey Brad,
Wow...your employers(ex) really suck! I am sorry that you're going through this. All I can do is offer my shoulder for you to cry on. Be well, Kathy

Mommeee · 10-17-2002, 11:11 PM

Were you actually out on short term disability? I'm not sure that they can bring you back at a lower position/lower pay. I would check into the human resources laws. There is a website with ADA information. Epilepsy is covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Also, I believe they have to get an evaluation done from your doctor to prove that you are unable to do your position in order not to bring you back to that position. I only vaguely know what the legal guidelines are, but they are definately worth checking into.

^enigma^ · 10-17-2002, 11:33 PM

You are right about the rules and the reason they are able to this legally is because the FMLA has already expired. That is what actually keeps your current position and payrate. I just took their word for it that it didnt matter since they had been so understanding through the entire thing.

Ive had E since before I started working there but I didnt get a diagnosis untill about 4 or 5 months ago. My manager let me leave many times when i had bad seizures at work(the smaller ones i just rested for a while and then went back to work) without counting it against me. It came as a complete suprise when they said this.

But I just found out after i posted the 1st message that they have been trying to get my software to work since yesterday. And they cant get it working...hahaha. Its been running on my machine at home since I wrote it.

One of the other supers asked me some questions about how to set it up. Thats how i found out. But guess what? If they want my help they gonna have to pay me a good sum of money for it. LOL!!!

I feel much better now.

shirlgirl · 10-18-2002, 05:07 AM

Hi Enigma,
Yeh people suck don't they especially in the workplace! Not that i have experienced this in e life but i know employers can be so cruel and misunderstanding to employees with e. In my opinion don't take people on in the first place!
Enigma i wouldn't bother my sweet little arse about it! I'm sure you can do better and deserve better attitude towards this! People can be so cruel in the world, what if the roles were reversed, how would they like it! As long as your health and yur own are fine nobody else is worth bothering about, you usually find out eventually who your true freinds are..even them will never understand! How can anybody understand what its like to have seizures, nobody and only yourself.
Words of encouragement from me is: in this situation look after numero uno, and if they dont want to know there loss.
Just keep a look out along the way, at least you have been in employment alot able bodied people without medical conditions would rather not work and be on the brew! Good luck in whatever you do
Shirlgirl.x.