Hello everybody. I was recently fired from my job, due to AADD. This was a gross injustice to me and Im thinking of filing charges with the EEOC. Has anyone every gone through this and, if so, what was the outcome? Is ADD considered a true disability? Thanks beforehand for any info you can provide. ;)

Maybe an introduction would be good only i think it's pretty hard to answer anybody's question first hand when we don't even know you.

I'm sorry you lost your job though!

I have not gone through this personally, but the Americans with Disabilaties act does offer you some protection under the law.

Ideally , one prefers to solve these problems in a nonconfrontational matter. However, if the situation has come to blows, see a lawyer right away.

Me :D


Hello everybody. I was recently fired from my job, due to AADD. This was a gross injustice to me and Im thinking of filing charges with the EEOC. Has anyone every gone through this and, if so, what was the outcome? Is ADD considered a true disability? Thanks beforehand for any info you can provide. ;)

Thanks for the replies. Im new to this forum so how does one properly introduce themselves?

Forgive my ignorance, please, but what is EEOC?

I understand, I didnt know myself 2 weeks ago. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They handle discrimmination cases in the workplace, etc. I think the way it works is they act as mediator between the two parties, legal representation advised.

Gotchya. Thank you.

Can you give us more information. I dont know how to answer you with out deatail. Whaat is the EE....?

Can you give us more information. I dont know how to answer you with out deatail. Whaat is the EE....?
EEOC ??

I understand, I didnt know myself 2 weeks ago. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They handle discrimmination cases in the workplace, etc. I think the way it works is they act as mediator between the two parties, legal representation advised.

Just an update. I have filed charges with the EEOC and am awaiting their decision to mediate between the 2 parties. My firing was discrimminating and a direct result of my ADD, which was recently diagnosed. I had been there for many years and had always received good reviews, etc. If I find out anything that could possible help anyone else in the same situation I will gladly pass the info along. Enjoy your 4th.

I hope everthing works out for you wingstogo! I glad you are fighting back and yes, I am sure others would love to hear how you make out in your battle and how the system works. Lots of luck to you and let us know if we can be of any support if needed.

Just an update. I have filed charges with the EEOC and am awaiting their decision to mediate between the 2 parties. My firing was discrimminating and a direct result of my ADD, which was recently diagnosed. I had been there for many years and had always received good reviews, etc. If I find out anything that could possible help anyone else in the same situation I will gladly pass the info along. Enjoy your 4th.Let us know how it goes!! :) :)

I hate to be a downer but I just wanted to say that I think its up to us to manage our ADHD so that we contribute to our jobs in a positive, organized, timely & efficient manner.

Clearly I don't know the specifics of your situation and I hope that if you were indeed wronged, the situation is corrected to your satisfaction!

The EEOC would not help me. They said proving discrimination for this was a "goat rope," meaning that it was almost impossible. They blew me off, telling me to call at certain times and being unavailable, etc. They never opened a case, although I called and faxed and pleaded.

I hate to be a downer but I just wanted to say that I think its up to us to manage our ADHD so that we contribute to our jobs in a positive, organized, timely & efficient manner.

Clearly I don't know the specifics of your situation and I hope that if you were indeed wronged, the situation is corrected to your satisfaction!


Thanks prettyblonde. I agree with you that we have to manage our ADHD in a professional manner. I personally have never done anything less.

I hope everthing works out for you wingstogo! I glad you are fighting back and yes, I am sure others would love to hear how you make out in your battle and how the system works. Lots of luck to you and let us know if we can be of any support if needed.


Thanks Susane. I will keep you posted as things progress. Have a great day.

The EEOC would not help me. They said proving discrimination for this was a "goat rope," meaning that it was almost impossible.That is probably true, simply because most ADD people most often aren't sufficiently organized enough to have a well documented case for them to act on, which is why it's recommended that you document everything from the moment you are hired, whether you have ADD or not. :)

Good Luck Wingstogo!! :)

BTW, I'll take 2 orders of Wingstogo, and some Ranch Dipping Sauce too! hehe :D

I think its up to us to manage our ADHD so that we contribute to our jobs in a positive, organized, timely & efficient manner.If given a choice, don't you think most ADD people would choose to be organized, timely, & efficient, if they could?? And if they could, then there wouldn't be any reason to have it listed as a disability anymore, would it??

Even if an ADD person could be organized, timely, and efficient 95% of the time, a fall out rate as little as 5% is still an unacceptable amount in most organizations now days.

However, the main reason I disagree with your statement is that you left out an important qualifier (or add-on) which is, "To the best of our abilities"!!

Therefore, "I think its up to us to manage our ADHD so that we contribute to our jobs in a positive, organized, timely & efficient manner to the best of our abilities!" is the only way that I would (or could) agree with your statement!

Peace,

We don't know the specifics. Did you notify your employer of your newly discovered disability and were offered accomodations?

Try to talk with an employment lawyer or a disability lawyer; if they are willing to take the case on a contigent basis (no charge unless they win you case), this would be a good sign that you have a solid case.

Wingstogo,
Did anyone suggest that you check out the book, "Every Employee's Guide to the Law" - by Joel G. Lewin III ??

Just curious! :)

Anyway, Let us know how it all turns out! :) :)

Definatley get the book "Every Employees Guide to the Law" and read it! Every chapter!!!

It is well worth it, - and once you get into it it's an easy and quick read. You don't even have to start with chapter one. Find a chapter that intrests you then explore others. You might find something else they wronged you on and you could sue for that instead.

I know you would rather teach them about the disability, but from what I've learned ANY disability case is very hard to prove and the monitary outcome is not that substantial.

Disability cases are only worth (I beleive) up to $300,000.00. It all depends on the size of your company, if your company only has 200 employees within a certain area then you can only get 100,000-200,000, and over 200 employee it's 300,000. Thats not even company wide but within a 75 mile radius, I believe.

Then you have to pay taxes, and a percentage to the attorney. However, other cases are a dime a dozens and settlements can go into the MILLIONS of dollars! Cha-Ching $$$$$$$$$$$$

An example is overtime pay. It is so easy for a company to slip and "break" the salary contract, or to mislable your position so YOU think your qualified for salary when really your not. These cases can be very rewarding!!! Just treathen to change it into a class action lawsuit - then they will not only have to pay you but EVERYBODY they did this to who ever worked overtime in the past, present and future!!! Plus, it means the FEDERAL government will do an audit of thier payroll and time keeping books - companies hate that and are scared sh*tless of that - they will do anything to avoid it at all costs. The people who take care of timesheets and payroll at least the busy day to day work of it are not that highly paid - or that highly educated - mistakes happen - often!!!! One mistake and their screwed!!!! They never want the federal government going through these with a microscope.

Then in closing statements or somewhere in the end you can add - you should not have discriminated me for my disability.

They will only pay attention and learn a lesson if you hit them hard where it hurts - the bank account!!!

Disability cases do not do this. Find a case that will be more beneficial to YOUR bank account.

Good Luck
See an attorney - initial consultations are usually free. Be prepared before you go, use the book as a guide to collect your evidence.

Bugs-n-Bunnys;) ;) ;) :cool: :cool: :cool: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :p :p :p :) :) :)

PS - watch the tine limits - the book will explain those. Disability cases must be filed within 180 days - I'm not sure of the overtime, but it has a time limit as well.


Bugs-n-Bunnys:cool: ;) :rolleyes: :)

Thanks for all the input everyone. Yes I do have the book "Every Employee's Guide to the Law" - by Joel G. Lewin III. It is very informative and highly recommended. Im actually looking into the "Unpaid Overtime" thing also. I believe you can only go back 2 years on that though, unless they were deliberate about it, then 3. And yes, document every little thing. Sorry Seek, wrong kind of wings.

Correction -

I just want to correct myself. In one of my earlier posts here I misstated the award limits, the correct award limits are below:

15 to 100 employees - $50,000.
101-200 employees - $100,000.
201-500 employees - $200,000.
More than 500 employees - $300,000

Thanks for the info Bugs-n-Bunnys. As for the unpaid overtime issue, does that also apply to salaried employees or just hourly?

It depends - are you exempt from the FLSA laws?

In a nutshell:
1) Are you very highly paid, $100,000 per year or higher?
2) Does your everyday work require a higher education, Master's or PHd? Bachelor's is not considered highly educated.
3) Do you regularly supervise 2 or more people?
4) There is a question about administrative, but I can't remember. Your not the CEO's assistant are you?

or

5) At the end of the year does your company give you a bonus that would equal the amount of overtime pay you would have recieved had you been paid overtime? i.e. - Do you get a really nice holiday bonus?

If you answer yes to any of these then yes your are exempt from FLSA and are not required to be paid overtime.

unless

Your not truely salary. i.e. - Are you allowed to have a 38 hour week and still get the same pay or do they make you take 2 hours out of your vacation to make up for it?

If say on a Friday afternoon you need to leave an hour early due to an emergency. Does your company let it go or make you take it out of vacation? Basically are you allowed to take less than 4 hours vacation?

If your company requires you to make it up or if that is not possible they take it out of your vacation or dock your pay, then they have broken the salary contract and you are no longer considered truely salary and then must be paid overtime.

My husband is only allowed to take entire vacation days, he is not allowed to take a couple of hours here and there out of his vacation, those few hours are just understood to be offset by his overtime - he is truely salary. However, when I had to leave early once due to my child being sick, my company took 1.75 hours out of my vacation to make my timesheet equal 40, at that point I am no longer considered truely salary and I am due overtime pay. In addition, my husband gets a Christmas bonus that is at the very least 10% of his salary, in fact his bonuses last year equalled 30% of his base salary - he is truely salary those bonuses made up for his overtime. As where the biggest bonus I got was $650.00 and for an entire year was never greater than $1000.00, that isn't even a drop in the bucket to the amount of overtime I worked.

Thanks once again for the very informative reply. Have a superb evening.

Testing, testing - just trying to see if my picture will show up.

Wow it does that is pretty cool! :) ;) :rolleyes: :cool: :p :D

I love these smiles too.

nice pic Bugs-n-Bunny. ;)

Thanks -

This was a male peacock that was showing off for a nearby female and he let me get really close to him, I was amazed. This was in the wild - not a zoo.

testing - I'm trying to make it bigger.

As a teacher, I have to document, document, document. It is not just about covering your behind. It is to prove you accomodated, graded fairly, actually taught a lesson, kept records of behavior and discipline issues, and so on. We are also mandatory reporters of any type of child abuse. An boy can we get sued. (Not often, not me.)

As an employee, you must keep records of all interactions with superiors that affect your job-good and bad. This way you can prove discrimination and so on.These types of cases are inherently difficult to prosecute, impossible without documentation.

Keep a file or plastic envelope (bright color or something) and just put everything in it. No need to have a fancy system. A ring binder works very well too. Just keep it secure and out of the hands of employers and fellow workers. This means at home, on a back up disk, scanned and so on.

Right now is a good time to be completely honest with yourself about your work performance. Write down all the reasons they let you go and then do a reality check,

is there any truth to them?
What could you have done differently?
Was is a personality clash?
Do other workers have problems with the same boss?
If possible, ask a fellow worker for his/her input.
Were you on time?
Did you follow the employee handbook and workplace rules?
Did you treat other workers with dignity and respect?
What can you do differently at your next job?
What did you do really well?
What did you hate to do or really do poorly or have problems with?
Was it ADD or something else?
Was the job the right fit for you?
You will probably have more things to go over. I lost a job, not really fired and it was unfair. I don't feel comfortable discussing anything else publicly, but you could pm or e me. You may want to consider career or personal counseling, it is a big help to have objective input.

Take care and keep us updated. If you get really down, call the doc and your support system.

Becky, Now you can create yourself!