The official discrimination complaint I submitted to my company’s legal team
After a little over 7 months with my company (which I will not be naming, per legal advice), I have finally reached my breaking point with the treatment I am being subjected to on a daily basis.
The following is a copy of the email I sent my company’s legal team, last night:
Good evening,
At this point, I am not prepared to give my store number and fellow employee names, due to fear of retaliatory statements, etc.
I am disabled and have been with {vyz for over 7 months.
I suffer from blindness + told them so during my job interview. I stressed the that I would need to hold the tickets close to my face and take me longer to do things. My interviewer stated that it wouldn’t be a problem and they are inclusive.
The first day I worked there, I requested to meet with both the manager who hired me and the store manager. I gave them an overview of things that may take me longer, what I found I’m best at, etc. truthfully, they should’ve been the ones to ask *ne* those things, but so be it. I also told them that given my assessment and what I just shared, I would understand if they don’t think this is the right job for me and I would leave. I told them, “I’m giving you an out; if you don’t think it’s going to work, let me know. I’m being very transparent with you”.
They both said they wanted me to continue and would “do everything we can to help”.
Unfortunately, that was only platitudes. I am subjected to constant ableism at {XYZ. Yes, constant, and that includes supervisors.
The fact that I’ve been completely honest and forthcoming since day 1, has made no difference in the way I’m treated.
I am *constantly* obligated to remind people of my blindness.
When I do tags on clothing, I can mostly read them if I hold them close to my face, but, of course, it takes longer than others. I work in receiving and when they have me on hard lines, I simply can’t see the tickets. They are a fraction of the size. Many of the items are obvious to which department’s cart they should go on, but some aren’t. My options are to either ask someone to read me the department on the ticket, or simply put it on the cart I think is most feasibility correct. Regardless which route I choose, I get responses like “you need to read the ticket!”, “you should know by now to read the ticket!” And huffs and puffs of outright ignoring me if i ask for help. These things make me have to repeat over and over and over again, “I can’t see the tickets”. After 7 months, why am I still being made to feel like a burden? Like I’m inferior. Like I’m incapable of having worth at {XYZ.
I understand it must be annoying to be asked for help, we’re human. I get it, but there’s annoyance and there’s outright ignorance and lack of empathy.
One of the reasons I accepted this job was because in {XYZ training online, they had a big section on disability acceptance and accessibility. (Although, disability isn’t even mentioned in the Code of Conduct).
Another grievance I have is that we are made to use kitchen times to process racks of cloths (which is ridiculous in itself) and I am given the same time length as everyone else. I’m not one to ask for “special treatment”, but if {XYZ thinks a disabled associate with blindness is going to be working at the same speed as an abled-body person, that is a *serious* issue.
Last Wednesday, I had a major fall at work + the way it’s being addressed is not acceptable.
There is a shelf about 6-9 inches off the ground and it usually has wall art on it;however, Wednesday it was empty and the shelf blends in with the concrete floor. I tripped over it and went flying. I have bruises all over my legs and a baseball-sized hematoma on my right calve. I asked my assistant manager when it happened to but a piece of colored tape around the border of the corner of it so it is more noticeable.. I came back to work today and there was no tape. So not only are they risking me falling again, but customers as well. How long does such an action take? 2 minutes?
Yet when a disabled employee who got hurt at their store, asks for something so simple, it is not done, I asked my other manager today and she had no interest in doing it.
Again, how exactly are disabled employees supposed to feel valued when they so obviously are not?
{XYZ says very nice flowery things about inclusivity, but my experience has been nothing of the sort. Last month, my store manager was standing on the actual sales floor (in the pillow isle) and I witnessed her saying “that customer was retarded”. “Retarded”? Seriously?
I’ve mentally compiled all of these things for 7 months and I can no longer accept this treatment.
If it’s happening in my store, I’d be shocked if it’s not happening in others.
I’ve never asked anyone for legal advice, so I’m not sure what this email does, if anything, but today I nearly walked out because of the treatment I’m getting and it’s inexcusable.
Thank you