Do employees with chronic illness have protection under law?

I feel like I'm at my wits end, especially when it comes to work. My boss appears to be understanding, however, the office manager is on my case about every little thing now. She's made comments (to me AND my boss) about the hat I now wear to help with light sensitivity. She's made comments about my attire (which I've had to change because clothes are sometimes too painful plus the bloating and swelling); I was only told when I was hired "no jeans and look presentable." She complains if I put a paperclip in the wrong place on the paper (seriously!) or if I don't give her enough copies of something - nothing of which is work performance, it's just nit-picking.

Last week, we got a delivery of two cases of paper for my office which is downstairs. I can't lift it anymore because of weakness; I thought I asked one of the guys to bring it down but I can't remember. She then told me that if it gets thrown away by housekeeping, that I'd have to pay for it! I looked at her and said that if housekeeping is stupid enough to throw out two full cases of paper, then they can pay for it.

The kicker is that she has COPD and is on continuous oxygen. You think she'd understand about chronic illness!

On top of that, my manager at the restaurant - who I told to take me off the schedule because I can't physically do it anymore - sends me a text this weekend telling me he needs me to work this Saturday! Didn't ask me - he TOLD me.

What don't these people understand? Are they trying to get me to quit? Do I have any rights legally to protect me? I've informed my boss and most of my coworkers of my condition because I'm not right and I'm still getting a ton of symptoms. This type of stress is not helping. I start to shake and get upset. Although, I'm afraid that one of these days, my lyme rage (which I really try to contain) is going to take over. That won't be pretty.

I assume youre in the US? If so there are laws that can help. Unfortunately, youll have to have a doc prove you have a qualifying condition under the ADA. FMLA covers illness related time off, if your company is covered, check FMLA requirements. Under ADA, the laws were changed to include many illness, Lyme isnt one that I know of. BUT many of our symptoms can be considered as other disease that are covered. You can call the ADA. They will talk to you and let you know if youre covered. But, they cant enforce themselves. Thats where the EEOC comes in, they enforce the ADA. Theres also a little know agency called the Job Accomodation Network that will inform you of your responsibilities under the ADA, and tell you what you must do to protect yourself.

That said, you can be covered under ADA, the EEOC can enforce the law, the JAN can tell you abosolutely everything right to do, but they cant protect you from an employer who will flat out lie about your job performance, which they will fire you for just to get you out of their hair if they can. They have a business to run, and if they consider you a liability in any way, they will do their best to terminate you. Nothing the EEOC can do about that. Inform yourself, do whatever it is your employer tells you, nomatter how stupid the paperclip issue is. They can use that against you. Believe me, being union, ive seen people terminated for the smallest issues. It isnt the issue itself but they turn it into an attitude problem. And youre gone. Good luck, learn all you can. And until then, walk the line.

If you can find a friend that has studied Human Resources or a college professor that teaches it, that is who I would ask.

Remember that office manager has to know all employment rules, laws and paperwork.

I agree with trader to study the laws because you will be fighting someone well trained in them if you fight the office manager.

Be careful of your boss. He may be playing nice guy to you, but reporting to the office manager all kinds of things.

Yeah, I'm not really sure who to trust anymore. The people here certainly like to mess with each other; it's a constant pissing contest (sorry for the language). On top of that, I just had another one of those convulsion-like episodes (violent muscles spasms, mostly of the head and neck) and they both saw it. Now I'm afraid my job could really be in jeopardy.

PeteZa said...


Be careful of your boss. He may be playing nice guy to you, but reporting to the office manager all kinds of things.

I totally agree with this statement...though it depends on your situation. How long have you been employed there? Is it a big company with an HR department? How is your relationship with your boss?

I have been dealing with this myself, in some ways. I have had a generally good working relationship with my boss (same job/boss over 9 years) and I went to her immediately when I started feeling like something was wrong because I wanted to get it out there that some health issue may be (in my own opinion) affecting my performance. She was (and continues to be) very supportive, though there were times when I felt very stressed/anxious about asking for any time off or time to go to appointments, etc...even though she repeatedly said "do what you have to do...health comes first". I was constantly thinking she was just saying the right things to me but keeping tabs.

I became so anxious about it, that I had to express my concern that this is impacting my position/future, and asked if I should contact HR just to get a formal sense of my options. She again expressed her support, brought me back to reality, and no need for HR. This was then validated with a good annual performance review and other positive year-end outcomes.

So my advice is just be honest as you can if your relationship allows it and try to work out an informal "flexibility agreement" of some sort...even if you can do it in stages, say for the next month or so until you have more regular improvement. If your relationship is good, maybe you can ask your boss to talk to the office manager to explain your situation.