I am 35 and have worked for thirteen years with the same company under th same manager for ten of those thirteen years. He emotionally bullied me daily stating I was working to slow I made mistakes. I have Dyslexia and am very afraid to let people know as I feel I will be treated poorly. My manager belittled me infront of staff every chance he got. In April he asked me to take a constructive dismissal because he had enough of my not living up to expectations for Zero Tolerance for errors. I cried every day on the way home and sometimes on the way to work. I hated that my Learning Disability was going to mean loosing the job I loved. I ended up getting asked to leave under a payout package. I have a new job but, still feel that my disability let me down. I want to know if others have experienced what I went threw and if we as Learning Disabled persons have rights where work place bullying is concerned. I am trying to make sure i don’t get bullied again by my new employer. Please help me out and I will help yo out to. Let’s share together our ups and downs of the worls perspective of Learning disabled people.
Heather:
As a special ed teacher, I am saddened to hear about your experience. I can only imagine one of my students being treated in the same manner as you have! However, it also sounds like you’re better off without your old boss!!! The workplace that you described certainly wasn’t healthy, especially for you. As for workplace rights, the first thing that a person needs to consider is whether to disclose his/her disability or not. Based on your post, I am guessing that you’ve already chosen to do so(?). Second, once an employer is informed of a disability, it’s my understanding that you should take a proactive approach. Emphasize to your boss that you don’t want to get out of doing any work, but, that to do your work more effectively, you have some suggestions to make. (What is it that you think would help you do your job more effectively?) I’m not sure what your boss legally is obligated to do. My guess is that they should make resonable accommodations for employees (i.e. a ramp for an employee in a wheelchair, an extra day for the report, etc.). What do you think?
Wish I could be of more help here. I DO know that this info is on the web somewhere, I just can’t recall where!!! Oh well, “old age” I guess…… If I do think of the site, I’ll let you know.
Dave