Accommodations at work

[Lorelei Lee]

I guess if I had an illness I was embarrassed by I would want no-one to know, but in the injury scenario the OP presented I can't imagine why I would care who talked about it. I guess that's why I can't relate to this situation.

Embarrassed, no, not at all. I just didn't feel the need to share the details of surgery, radiation and chemo with my coworkers. At the time I was scared to death about where I was going, and didn't want it to be part of my work day.

Like I said, my coworkers are not idiots, they figured it out, but the topic was not up for discussion.

 

[bedogged]

MYOB is all well & good, but it doesn't solve the issue.

HR is who should solve this problem. The co-worker isn't even the file person. She is butting into something that isn't her business. If the 80 old has a problem, she can complain to management. IMHO the OP does not owe this person any kind of explanation.

 

[SLP958]

No, no, no. I completely disagree. The laws are there to protect her privacy. the first person she needs to talk to is her boss, the second is her HR rep. Only then, and only if they think she needs to say something, would I bring the coworkers into the conversation.

This seems to be another example of people getting so caught up in themselves and what their rights are they forget common sense and courtesy.

All the OP had to say was "I have trouble bending and can't file on the bottom, I would really appreciate all of your help."

 

[Lorelei Lee]

This seems to be another example of people getting so caught up in themselves and what their rights are they forget common sense and courtesy.

All the OP had to say was "I have trouble bending and can't file on the bottom, I would really appreciate all of your help."

No, I disagree.

I can see the OP telling the file clerk, whose job is impacted by the OP's disability. "File clerk, I appreciate your understanding, I can't manage to do any filing, my doctor told me not to bend over."

But the entire department doesn't need to know, they're not doing the OP's job, they're not affected by the OP's inability to bend over and file.

The person who attacked the OP wasn't even the person who was impacted by the OP's disability. She chose to involve herself in something that was none of her business, and then berate the OP for it.

 

[jrmasm]

This seems to be another example of people getting so caught up in themselves and what their rights are they forget common sense and courtesy.

All the OP had to say was "I have trouble bending and can't file on the bottom, I would really appreciate all of your help."

That's how I see it too.

As the gigantic toolbag Dr Phil says, would you rather be right or happy?

 

[sunshinehighway]

This seems to be another example of people getting so caught up in themselves and what their rights are they forget common sense and courtesy.

All the OP had to say was "I have trouble bending and can't file on the bottom, I would really appreciate all of your help."

I agree.

Sometimes people are so busy with their rights they forget a little consideration of others would go a long way.
Sure the Op doesn't have to tell anyone anything about her accomodations. She can't control them having resentment or judging her though.
I also find that people tend to think others are yelling when they don't like what is being said.

 

[SMD]

You need a thicker skin. Don't go into the file room for private discussions. Just tell her that if she has an issue with your work to take it up with her supervisor, and have her supervisor take it up with yours. If you don't engage her, she'll either go through channels or she'll implode.

However, your employer doesn't have to provide accommodations if they place an undue burden on the business. From your own account, it seems like you're passively hiding behind your accommodation and letting others cover for you, when you could try being more proactive. If an 80 year old woman is doing all of the filing maybe you should suggest having the files moved off the bottom, so that you can do all of your own filing.

 

[Lorelei Lee]

You need a thicker skin. Don't go into the file room for private discussions. Just tell her that if she has an issue with your work to take it up with her supervisor, and have her supervisor take it up with yours. If you don't engage her, she'll either go through channels or she'll implode.

However, your employer doesn't have to provide accommodations if they place an undue burden on the business. From your own account, it seems like you're passively hiding behind your accommodation and letting others cover for you, when you could try being more proactive. If an 80 year old woman is doing all of the filing maybe you should suggest having the files moved off the bottom, so that you can do all of your own filing.

The only part of your post that I agree with is that the OP should not have engaged in a conversation with the coworker. Coworker was out of line, and OP should have brought the matter to the attention of a supervisor.

Obviously the accommodation does NOT put an undue burden on the business, or it would not have been granted. Once it was granted, the OP doesn't owe explanations to anyone. Keep in mind that it's not the file clerk who complained about the OP's behavior, it was a coworker who was not directly impacted, who was not asked to pick up the slack, and who had nothing to do with how the OP is or is not performing her job.

As for the file clerk's age...my friend's father is 82 years old, he still drives a cab in NYC, still lifts customers' luggage into the trunk of the car, etc., and he would resent it if you suggested he was too old to be doing his job. If the file clerk is negatively impacted by the OP's accommodation, or if the file clerk needs an accommodation of her own, it's up to the file clerk to address her concerns to the management.

I don't see how the OP is "hiding behind her accommodation"? How so?

 

[SMD]

I don't see how the OP is "hiding behind her accommodation"? How so?

OP said others may have the same accommodation. If that leaves one person to do the work intended for many, then it can become an undue burden. I wasn't saying it's one now, or that the coworker who confronter her wasn't out of line, but always keep in mind that an accommodation someone has now, may not be possible due to the needs of the business later.

As for hiding behind an accommodation, rather than suggesting the the files be moved to where she could access them, the OP just elected to take the passive approach and not access those files. She may not be required to be proactive, but she also had the option to request a different accommodation. From the OP's description is sounds like she is supposed to refile her own files, but she defaults part of that duty to someone else.

There's also a catch-22. OP doesn't have to disclose the medical reason she can't refile on the bottom shelf, but her coworkers then don't have a chance to understand why they have to cover for her either. It's within their right to complain, OP is not obligated to engage that particular coworker who complained.

 

[Lorelei Lee]

OP said others may have the same accommodation. If that leaves one person to do the work intended for many, then it can become an undue burden. I wasn't saying it's one now, or that the coworker who confronter her wasn't out of line, but always keep in mind that an accommodation someone has now, may not be possible due to the needs of the business later.

As for hiding behind an accommodation, rather than suggesting the the files be moved to where she could access them, the OP just elected to take the passive approach and not access those files. She may not be required to be proactive, but she also had the option to request a different accommodation. From the OP's description is sounds like she is supposed to refile her own files, but she defaults part of that duty to someone else.

There's also a catch-22. OP doesn't have to disclose the medical reason she can't refile on the bottom shelf, but her coworkers then don't have a chance to understand why they have to cover for her either. It's within their right to complain, OP is not obligated to engage that particular coworker who complained.

I'm not sure about the OP's place of employment, but let me tell you my experience in a corporate environment.

Back in the day when my company still used paper files (we went paperless almost 2 years ago), there was a file room on my floor. We are (or rather, were) very paper-intensive. We had two file clerks, whose job it was to retrieve file folders when requested, shelve file folders when returned to the file room and send file folders to our offsite archives when a matter was closed and the folder no longer needed. I had the option of retrieving and re-shelving my own files, which I often did, but it wasn't part of my job to do so.

My reading between the lines of the OP's post -- and the OP can clarify this if she chooses to do so -- is that the responsibility for filing falls primarily on the file clerk, but that the employees will frequently do their own filing for various reasons. It appears that the OP has been doing filing on the shelves she can reach without bending, but that the file clerk has been filing the OP's files if they are located on shelves the OP cannot access without bending.

My understanding of what happened between OP and coworker is that coworker has been helping the file clerk rearrange files when certain shelves get too crowded, and that she berated the OP because: (1) she thought she was coming to the defense of the file clerk; or (2) she is jealous of the OP's accommodation. Or perhaps a bit of both.

In other words, she intervened in a situation that was none of her business, and her behavior was totally inappropriate. Perhaps the OP could have handled things better, but the coworker is the one who is out of line.

 

[bedogged]

OP said others may have the same accommodation. If that leaves one person to do the work intended for many, then it can become an undue burden. I wasn't saying it's one now, or that the coworker who confronter her wasn't out of line, but always keep in mind that an accommodation someone has now, may not be possible due to the needs of the business later.

As for hiding behind an accommodation, rather than suggesting the the files be moved to where she could access them, the OP just elected to take the passive approach and not access those files. She may not be required to be proactive, but she also had the option to request a different accommodation. From the OP's description is sounds like she is supposed to refile her own files, but she defaults part of that duty to someone else.

There's also a catch-22. OP doesn't have to disclose the medical reason she can't refile on the bottom shelf, but her coworkers then don't have a chance to understand why they have to cover for her either. It's within their right to complain, OP is not obligated to engage that particular coworker who complained.

It's also within the OP's legal right not to endure a hostile workplace. It's also up to the business , not the OP, to provide that accommodation.

From the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission web site:

"The law requires an employer to provide reasonable accommodation to an employee or job applicant with a disability, unless doing so would cause significant difficulty or expense for the employer ("undue hardship")."

and

"It is illegal to harass an applicant or employee because he has a disability, had a disability in the past, or is believed to have a physical or mental impairment that is not transitory (lasting or expected to last six months or less) and minor (even if he does not have such an impairment).

Harassment can include, for example, offensive remarks about a person's disability. Although the law doesn't prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that aren't very serious, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted).

The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or customer."

 

[Pakey]

If this complaint was brought to me, I would say I didn't have enough information based on what was provided in the original post.

Does the OP pull the files from the bottom drawer? How is she getting the files that the co-worker is alleging aren't being returned? If she is pulling them out, the OP needs to stop doing that.

Whose responsibility is is to maintain the file room? If it is the "file clerk", then that's her job. Her age isn't the issue. If she's not capable of doing the job assigned to her, that should be addressed. Maybe it's too much work for one person, regardless of age. This has nothing to do with the OP. If the co-worker wants to help the file clerk, she's doing that on her own and can't expect others to rise to the same level of sainthood that she is choosing for herself.

If it's part of the OP's job to file, the company agreed that a reasonable accommodation could be made for her and she, for the time being at least, is being accommodated by not having to bend or lift greater than 10 pounds. Unless the company reevaluates and determines that it can no longer accommodate, the OP doesn't have to grow a thicker skin, defend herself, etc. Perhaps the company should move her file drawers or do something to make it easier but it's not up to the OP to figure this out. The company agreed to accommodate her and they should have had a plan in place at the time they made the agreement.

Based on the information provided, I still do not believe that the angry co-worker harrassed her because she has a disability. It's possible but I wouldn't make that leap based on the OP's statement (and I would do an investigation if a complaint was brought to me). The angry co-worker yelled at her because she perceived that she was having to do more work and it had nothing to do with any disability. The initial confrontation was not a target directed towards the OP specifically--it became that way after OP disclosed it was her putting the files in the basket.

I'm not condoning the co-workers behavior. She appears to be unprofessional and a busybody. There are plenty of them out there in the workforce. The OP should not have engaged initially in an attempt to justify herself but she did and the situation became worse than it might have. It's possible the OP contributed to the problem by doing so. I can't tell.

If the OP wants to pursue something, that's up to her. I personally would not but that's just me (I'm not basing this on legalities, just my personality). I can't tell from the OP's post if this co-worker is always like this, are others having ongoing problems with her, is this a one time incident, etc. Based on the information provided, assuming that this co-worker is not going to berate the OP for her restrictions on an ongoing basis, I would just go back to doing my job. We can all have days where we aren't at our best at work and the OP did not state that this co-worker has been bothering her prior to this. I wouldn't be pulling any files and I wouldn't be feeling guilty because I couldn't return them. It would be up to my boss to deal with work assignments.

A one time incident does not create a hostile work environment. So far, I've only heard about a one time incident.

 

[bedogged]

Packey wrote:

"A one time incident does not create a hostile work environment. So far, I've only heard about a one time incident."

I agree with this part of your post. One incident does not create a hostile work environment, however, this was serious enough to warrant a visit to HR so that the OP has a record that this incident occurred. I would not be surprised if this was just the first of many incidents, but nobody can be sure of that. I am concerned because the co-worker tried to bully the OP into not reporting the incident. "This person told me that if she ever hears me talking about her, she will go to the big boss or the union."

 

[Lorelei Lee]

Packey wrote:

"A one time incident does not create a hostile work environment. So far, I've only heard about a one time incident."

I agree with this part of your post. One incident does not create a hostile work environment, however, this was serious enough to warrant a visit to HR so that the OP has a record that this incident occurred. I would not be surprised if this was just the first of many incidents, but nobody can be sure of that. I am concerned because the co-worker tried to bully the OP into not reporting the incident. "This person told me that if she ever hears me talking about her, she will go to the big boss or the union."

A one-time incident, if severe enough, could qualify as creating a hostile environment. I don't think the incident described by the OP would come anywhere near that, however. But if I were the supervisor, I'd be talking to the coworker and I'd be making sure that she understood the behavior wa sout of line and should not be repeated.

 

[EMAW_KSU]

A one-time incident, if severe enough, could qualify as creating a hostile environment. I don't think the incident described by the OP would come anywhere near that, however. But if I were the supervisor, I'd be talking to the coworker and I'd be making sure that she understood the behavior wa sout of line and should not be repeated.

Exactly.

I have fired an employee for one time incident.

 

[bedogged]

Exactly.

I have fired an employee for one time incident.

I do think that any supervisor, with the smallest amount of sensitivity training, would treat this incident very seriously. If they didn't, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the supervisor found himself on the end of disciplinary action.

 

[kellyg403]

I posted early in the thread, and today read the replies. I was confused and went back to the OP. I guess I am way off on context of the initial OP.

So, if the OP can elaborate?

1. So this co worker that was yelling at you just helps the 80 yo file lady and was mad because no one else would? Like helping the lady out because the older lady didn't do much but complain because no one would help? Or the co worker is the person that should be doing the filing and her only help is the 80 yo? (NOt that this really matters other than why co worker flipped I guess)

2. Why would you feel guilty? You have done what you need to do. Tell her to MHOB.

3. I would never have another conversation alone with this person ever again.
Depending on what the real initial problem is, I wouldn't trust private conversations with her anymore.

Kelly

 

[barkley]

I do think that any supervisor, with the smallest amount of sensitivity training, would treat this incident very seriously. If they didn't, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the supervisor found himself on the end of disciplinary action.

had this happened when I supervised, and the op made me aware of it-I would have had to (1) confer with h/r on how they wanted it handled, (2)likely been told by h/r to have op do a brief write up on what occurred, (3) met with the other employee to get their side, (4) documented for both the op and the other employee (with copies to h/r) the scope of our individual conferences-that way it was cya on potential hostile work environment, and documentation in the event a personnel action was ultimately taken against the other employee. this was the process all the unions demanded-WIDSI (write it, don't say it).

there's a good chance if the other employee claimed they didn't know this constituted hostile work environment they would get sent to the next session of training that was coming up.

 

[bedogged]

had this happened when I supervised, and the op made me aware of it-I would have had to (1) confer with h/r on how they wanted it handled, (2)likely been told by h/r to have op do a brief write up on what occurred, (3) met with the other employee to get their side, (4) documented for both the op and the other employee (with copies to h/r) the scope of our individual conferences-that way it was cya on potential hostile work environment, and documentation in the event a personnel action was ultimately taken against the other employee. this was the process all the unions demanded-WIDSI (write it, don't say it).

there's a good chance if the other employee claimed they didn't know this constituted hostile work environment they would get sent to the next session of training that was coming up.

This is exactly what should occur. It protects both the company and the employees involved.

 

[Skywalker]

I also find that people tend to think others are yelling when they don't like what is being said.

Absolutely! I find it hard to believe that with all the yelling the OP describes there wasn't a crush of people overhearing and running to her aid.

Anyway, what I fail to understand is this adversarial relationship people have with their co-workers. We're all supposed to be on the same team, working for the greater good of the company right? I was in an accident years ago and required accommodation for a couple of months. I told all of my co-workers what was going on....didn't even cross my mind NOT to. It is also not some big state secret so who really cares?

And this conversation with the co-worker doesn't seem to rise to the level of a threat or harassment to me. I have dealt with real threats and real harassment, and I don't think this is that. Can't adults have words and hash things out anymore without someone claiming some huge offence?