Ask the Chicken: I am being left out at work and treated as though I’m stupid. Can you help?

Wow. Does this sound familiar. I worked in the same place for over 20 years. My hearing was bad at the beginning, but it gradually got worse. My supervisor at hiring was a fantastic guy. He made sure I understood what I needed to, and all the people I worked with were very accommodating with writing instructions down and willing to answer questions if I missed something in a meeting.

Years pass, people retire, people get promoted, but I was still there with new supervisors. When I was ‘trained’ on a new job, the supervisor couldn’t be bothered to train me herself, so she gave me written instructions that were over 10 years old (my job involved knowing current laws, so that was really unacceptable.) she also gave me notes that she and another person had taken in a training session for that job. I was not invited to that training session. The notes actually contradicted each other, and when I complained to the director, he actually suggested that it was a personality conflict with my supervisor.

Long story short, I complained to supervisors, to HR, through the chain of command, around the chain of command, directly to the legal department, directly to the governor (I worked for the local state government.) we did mediation, then the director broke the promises less than a month after she signed it. HR had two meetings with me about my ‘cannot hear in meetings’ complaint and didn’t provide a way for me to understand what was being said in the meetings. They did record one and gave me a grossly mis-transcribed summary about 6 weeks later. I developed stroke-level hypertension, nightmares, hallucinations, and was treated for PTSD*

*part of this was inadequate handling of a coworker situation where a woman was throwing things over the cubicle wall because my ‘staple remover was too loud.’ She left threatening notes after I reported her. Fab job.

Anyway. The last week I was there, I was left inside during a fire alarm. Then I was told it was my fault (for going inside after my break, not knowing there had been an alarm while I was outside on my break.) then I was not included in a meeting about the fire alarm. If I had not stood up to go to the bathroom, I would never have known they were having a meeting in the open area two desks away.

The very last day? I had to attend a disciplinary meeting without an interpreter, even though I had repeatedly asked for one. (I missed many days due to the illnesses caused by this stress and did not bring a doctor’s note one time. Again, miscommunication. They told me I had to bring a doctors note to use a sick day. They did not say I had to bring a note if I was going without pay.)

Your health isn’t worth it. File a lawsuit if they aren’t following the law. Find another job. Walk dogs, whatever you need to do. I’m better now, but I still have the flare-ups, anxiety attacks and sleepless nights occasionally, especially after talking about it. I’m sorry you seem to be going through a similar situation.

One supervisor made a comment, making fun of me, LITERALLY behind my back. Because she knew I couldn’t hear her. (My friend overheard it from across the room.) you just can’t reason with people like that, can you? I felt like punching people every day…better now that I don’t see them. Yes, better.

I’m a hearing person that knows sign language. At a company I worked for we hired a deaf person to work with our team. We discussed the need for interpreters (whenever he wanted one) and I met the person specifically to see if he was comfortable with me signing in the office for casual needs (my insistence). Our team worked well, he was included in business and social activities, his co-workers even learned some basic ‘social signs’ (Hello, how are you, good weekend, etc). He stayed there two years, was well liked, got several promotions and a pay rise and then moved to another department because the job offered more money.

Two months later, I received a call from his new boss who asked if ‘he had a learning disability or perhaps he wasn’t very smart’. They did everything possible to isolate him: didn’t hire interpreters (too expensive!), made no accommodation and excluded him from meetings. I discussed this with him, complained to HR about their comments to me, and to my boss (who went over and raised hell). He left the company. I told him to sue but he found a job at another company that treated him well.

No one should ever have to put up with discrimination. There are no excuses, ever.