Insight: I was a victim of ‘hidden’ discrimination by my manager and hearing colleagues

When you usually talk about discrimination, it’s often the obvious examples that come to mind. For example, if a company or a service refuses to prevent access for a deaf person – this is an obvious case that we all know to be discrimination.

Another example is when a deaf person is treated differently because of their hearing loss. If they are spoken rudely to or purposely excluded from things – these are all cases of discrimination taking place.

But what about the more subtle examples of discrimination that often get overlooked?

I recently left a workplace that had discriminated against me multiple times but my arguments were overlooked and ignored because they weren’t the typical obvious examples.

I work in a very hearing-dominated profession, you rarely meet other deaf people in the field I work in and when you do they’re usually oral, hearing aid wearers like myself. I have always been confident at what I do, I am very forthcoming about my access needs and I’m able to design a workspace that works for me and enables me to commnuicate with other hearing people, mostly through lipreading.

The bulk of my communication with colleagues takes place via email although there are the occasional meetings and presentations, where I can make use of technology such a bluetooth connection to a microphone to hear a speaker directly through my hearing aid.

The workplace I am talking about, however, decided when employing me that I should be paid a lower salary than my colleagues – for no apparent reason other than that I have ‘access needs.’ I didn’t discover this salary difference until later on in my employment when I voiced to colleagues that I was unhappy about the way work was going.

I started noticing other colleagues being chosen for exclusive jobs, pitching great products and taking home huge commissions and opportunities. I told myself that surely I would eventually get my turn, especially after my work had a fantastic client success rate. But 12 months passed, then 18 and then 24 and I was the only person on my floor who had still not progressed on my work pathway.

Speaking to a colleague about this, they told me in confidence that there was a joke going around that I wasn’t to be trusted with a high profile client because I may mishear or make a mistake in our communication. I was shocked by this! I wanted to approach my boss and talk to him about this but the colleague begged me not to as they would be revealed as the source.

I decided to ask for a meeting to discuss my career anyway. This meeting was denied three times due to ‘many other commitments’ and when I finally had the meeting, I felt as though I was being shunned or pacified. I explained how I wanted to progress in my career and I was bluntly told that there were no opportunities of this kind for me there.

I enquired about whether I needed more experience in another field, should I undertake more training? I was told if I did leave to train in another field, there wouldn’t be a place for me when I returned.

I was stunned. I had worked hard at this ‘prestigious’ company for over two years but I was being told there was no way up or out for me, I had to either keep my head down or leave.

I stayed at the company for a few more months while hunting for another job and I noticed the discrimination even more. There were ‘after work meet ups’ that others went on that I was oblivious to previously, with conversations being had throughout the day whilst my back was turned and I was focusing purely on my work.

I was the joke in the office, I soon realised. I never knew.

For the last few months, I took the gas off my workload pace, so to speak, and slowed down, noticing what was happening in the workplace around me. I had been so dedicated to and absorbed in my work that I didn’t see how I was effectively being shunned and ignored by everyone else.

The attitudes in a workplace are really affected by the senior management team and unfortunately as I was employed by a priviliged, prejudiced team, this would never have turned out well for me.

I have since sought advice about this experience and whether I could claim compensation for the grievance I felt towards me. However, as I signed a contract – without knowing I was being underpaid – there really is nothing legally that I can do.

All of the jokes and stories about me in the office are nothing but chinese whispers and rumours in the air, nothing was written or shared online and nobody was really ever on my side.

I am in a new environment now and I’d like to say the poor experience has opened my eyes up to the type of person I’d like to be. Whilst I am not yet working at a senior management level, I hope to do so one day and I am absolutely certain that I will treat my employees with the respect and equality that we all deserve.

This blog has been written anonymously as part of the Insight series – where readers are invited to share their story or news about their interesting job with The Limping Chicken. If you have a story to share please email rebecca@rawithey.com 

Image courtesy of i-stock photos.