Finally fired for disability!

Nurses Disabilities

Published

I can't believe it but the ***** finally fired me, with many BS accusations but I know it was because of the depression and anxiety! I will be filing with the EEOC and the state board of nurses. (It surprises me how long it takes the board to do anything about complaints! You would think they would want people like that suspended, outta there)!

Anyhow, I'm really depressed now. All of it has just tired me out so much! It's not just about being fired either, without cause. My reputation is on the line, and I think that makes it so much worse!!

Is there anything else I can do? :crying2:

Hi,

I haven't been on for awhile but I feel outraged for you.

I know this may sound corney but I love helping people.

At present, I am waiting to begin classes to become certified as a nurse paralegal. Maybe it is a blessing in disguise. Some states are actually in dire need for nursing instructors they are developing alot of financial assistance because it's the lack of instructors that's causing the nursing shortage. They are using nurses in so many different ways,your possibilities are limitless. Don't listen to a bunch of a..holes.

I have always hated thst saying" when one door closes another will open. I believe if one door closes on me, I won't wait for another door to open,I open my own doors. Don't allow anyone to push you out.

sara62

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Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..

I'm sorry this happened! I would urge you to find out if you have legal recourse. But know that God has a place and purpose for your life - maybe not there! Maybe something better!

But - that is no help to you today. Today you are angry and justifiably so. I hope that you somehow get some resolution to all this! take care!

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I was one month away from graduating from nursing school, a disabled student, good gpa, but when fourht term started i got a crazy clinical instructor, had a bad reputation, and he ended up getting physically aggressive with me when I disagreed about an arbitrary requirement he put on me and refused to respect the accomodations already in place by the disability office. so the school "investigated" but instead of reprimanding him or replacing him, they turned it all on me, said i had an attitude problem, and problems with authority. The assault and battery that took place wasn't witnessed by anyone, so I couldn't prove it, but now, after about 3 weeks of pure hell and huge amounts of sudden write ups for anything and everything, they exited me. Has anyone else had problems with schools refusing to adhere to accomodations? And what happened? thank you in advance for your help.

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I was one month away from graduating from nursing school, a disabled student, good gpa, but when fourht term started i got a crazy clinical instructor, had a bad reputation, and he ended up getting physically aggressive with me when I disagreed about an arbitrary requirement he put on me and refused to respect the accomodations already in place by the disability office. so the school "investigated" but instead of reprimanding him or replacing him, they turned it all on me, said i had an attitude problem, and problems with authority. The assault and battery that took place wasn't witnessed by anyone, so I couldn't prove it, but now, after about 3 weeks of pure hell and huge amounts of sudden write ups for anything and everything, they exited me. Has anyone else had problems with schools refusing to adhere to accomodations? And what happened? thank you in advance for your help.

lawyer up, now!!!!!! and, yes A+B with out a witness may be diff, but file charges anyway. NOW

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When the instructor assaulted you, did you call the police right away and file charges?

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When the instructor assaulted you, did you call the police right away and file charges?

Yes I did file a police report right after he did it - but the sheriff's officer said it was a case of "simple battery" but because no one witnessed it, and there were no injuries other than a scratch on my finger, it would be very unlikely for the State's Attorney to pursue any charges. So yes, I did do a police report. The community college said my allegation was "unfounded" and then they proceeded to make my life a living h*** until 21 days after the battery charge, and in those 21 days I was written up 3 more times, I was given extra work that no one else had to do, and when I couldn't complete it (papers assigned) they wrote me up for that also. I was "exited" 21 days after I filed the police report. Now I have 75% of a nursing degree that I can't do anything with. Thank you for your input, sorry it took so long to reply.

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I wasn't fired, but after five years at the same RN position (telephone nursing), new management decided that they didn't want an bipolar RN on staff. Yes, I was out on LOA several times, in the hospital, but my employer is a big, multistate organization and other nurses with "physical disabilities" were cut WWAAAAYYYYY more slack than I. Anyway, after a couple of years of fighting for ADA rights and requesting "reasonable accomodations" for things no greater than asking to be within distance to have natural daylight via windows (not a problem in a large facility with windows 360 degrees), my hours adjusted ONE HOUR EARLIER and bright flourescent lights just over my desk turned off, I was dealing with a hostile environment. I went to corporate and after all this, they finally got a "respect in the workplace" policy from corporate. After a few months, I got my eval for work, which was wonderful, with a raise. All my evaluations over the years were wonderful. I never ONCE had an issue with patient care, it was just with certain supervisors. So, I got my wonderful eval and same day a discipline "plan" which was essentially a gag order. I wasn't permitted to discuss any workplace issues with anyone except my direct supervisor, the local center administrator and HR person. Not even allowed to answer coworkers or corporate directors coming to site. On condition of firing. ADA SCHMADA! This threw me over the edge and I ended up in hospital again. I saw an employment attorney and she gave me all different options, but basically it boiled down to this: I could take action legally, I had hard evidence of a hostile environment and multiple instances of the ADA being flouted, but I would get fired for something else; I could take action legally and work in a REALLY hostile environment; I could hope for a severance agreement (dream on); I could do nothing and wait ffor the inevitable termination (ya know when it's coming, it is). She said it would take years to run through the courts and that right now the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) is not very sympathetic to mental health issues and that I probably didn't have the emotional wherewithal to stand up to a long drawn out court battle anyway. She said she wouldn't take my case because of the time and money involved, "but there are plenty of attorneys who will take it and drain you financially". Then the final kicker was "the ADA presupposes that you are able to do the work with reasonable accomodations and with all your medical issues (many), I'm amazed you've been able to do what you've been doing as long as you have, you really are disabled". She went on to say that the workplace issues were exacerbating my mental health problems and not doing me any good. So I walked out of her office with about 500+ pages of documentation, knowing I had the law on my side, but no enforcement ability and never went back to work. When I was first diagnosed with bipolar disorder, my immediate supervisor (a wonderful one who left the same company because of their nasty, vicious , underhanded behavior to other employees) cautioned that I should not let management know about my dx-"you will guaranteed to have trouble". Once again, an idealist who believed in "truth, justice and the American way", I decided to be upfront. Needless to say, I got harassed out of my profession. I physically cannot do hospital or any nursing on my feet, so that was the end of my career. And there were many nurses harassed out of work there. And we wonder why nursing has such an attrition rate.

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Specializes in ICU,IV Team, Endoscopy, CM, LTC, Homecar.

I'm very sorry for what you have to go through. I also have experienced problems with similar prejudices in regards to disabilities. Mine though are related to back injuries, that were from years of nursing in ICU,LTC

LTAC, ie much heavy lifting, bending, tugging, pulling, and very very large people, who chose to not even try to stand or do do for themselves. Seems like since we work in the area of "healthcare", one would think they would be more understanding of what we are going through, but if you have any

kind of disability, you are pushed out. I would try to pursue a lawsuit.:twocents::deadhorse

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Specializes in NICU, Post-partum.

When you contact the EEOC, unfortunately, you will learn very quickly that the term "reasonable accomodations" is a very broad term and highly subjective, especially when it comes to disabilities such as anxiety and depression.

Remember that even though YOU know that they fired you for your disability, they will come up with legal reasons of why it wasn't the reason that they fired you.

The EEOC battle, will take, at least a year or more.

Not trying to discourage you, but discrimination is alive and well in the workplace....not that it makes it right, but just think about it very carefully before you pursue it b/c hospitals are small places (even between systems) and you want to make absolutely 100% sure you can win b/c it could easily follow you.

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