For context here, I (25M) work in retail environment known for the commercials with the creepy CGI characters. My store rhymes with “Flowger”.
I'm one of the front end workers, with my duties consisting of bagging, running registers, getting carts, and generally being available for various other things. Maintenance, utilities, price checks, even the occasional supervisory duty.
My store has a handful of front end clerks like myself, but the majority are special needs individuals. As someone who is himself special needs (high functioning autism, ADD, ADHD, and Wolfe Parkinson White disorder), I have nothing wrong with this, and understand that everyone needs a job. The store is pretty good about giving everyone a chance, and the majority of my coworkers are great at what they've been asked to do.
Then there's John (not his real name).
John has been at the store longer than I have been, so at least 6 months. He is a front end clerk, like myself, but on the low end of the special needs spectrum. He cannot read, has poor verbal communication skills, and overall has to be monitored on a day to day, hour by hour basis. Again I would like to state that *I have no problem with him being special needs*.
My problem is that he is more intelligent than he lets people believe.
John has, on innumerable occasions, done the following:
- Disappeared from the store for hours on end, only to be found upstairs in the break room watching TV.
- Taken items from the shelf and sales floor without paying for them and gone to the break room (via a back stairway) to eat said items.
- Laughed at myself and other front end workers when asked to help us getting carts, then continued to watch TV.
- Taken carts from the lot one at a time to stack into a larger pile, then taken the entire pile to the cart bays (all while moving slower than an infant can crawl)
This is not a complete list, and does not include things such as leaving exchanged propane tanks in the open (which is both a safety hazard and a violation of company policy), or bagging items incorrectly (putting breakables / squishables underneath heavy items, etc.) .
I understand that he is mentally challenged, and I myself have a cousin who is nonverbal (due to severely damaged vocal cords at birth) and suffers from cerebral palsy. I understand the struggles individuals like he and my cousin go through, and am more than willing to cut them slack if it means they're able to do their job.
But John doesn't do his job, even with this slack.
I have brought my concerns about him to multiple members of management , and each time they gave the same responses:
- “There's nothing we can do.”
- “We'll talk to his mom about it.”
- “You have to cut him some slack, he doesn't understand.”
- “He's special needs.”
Talking to his mother clearly does nothing to change his behaviour, because it continues on a day to day basis. As for there being nothing the company or management can do, that is complete and utter bullshit.
My mother is a teacher, and has been for almost 15 years. Any time she has an issue with a student, special needs or not, she documents it. That documentation has helped her more times than she can count, and I am certain that the same goes for any company or business. There is no reason that management cannot document when he violates company policy to the extent that he does.
As for “Not understanding”, I am well versed in the concept of learned helplessness. When you have someone making excuses for you because you're “special needs”, why would you ever try to be anything different? If someone did my laundry and cooked my food and washed my dishes every day of my life because they believed I couldn't do it on my own, why would I show them that I could do it myself? This is the behavior I believe, based on his actions, that he is exhibiting. He walks slower than a snail when moving carts, but you can bet than when it's time for him to watch WWE on the company TV, he knows how to walk fast enough to avoid missing the opening bell.
Finally, the “special needs” comments. I was told directly that he gets away with all of the things he does because he's autistic. My response: “I'm also autistic. If I did a fraction of what he does, I'd be terminated immediately.” Management then said “Oh, you don't LOOK autistic, and you act normal. You look normal. He LOOKS autistic.” I wasn't aware there was a certain look to autism, or a strict behaviour that all autists followed.
Such comments lead me to believe that this is blatant discrimination – not against him, but in favor of him, because he acts incompetent and has a “autistic appearance”. This is a blatant violation of the ADA, and if I or any of the other special needs persons employed at the store were to pull any of what John has, we would be written up or terminated without any of the special treatment he is being given.
I am tired of having a coworker who does not perform the duties of their job, and is instead given a free pass because they're “special needs”. While I understand that everyone, even special needs persons, require time, understanding and patience, I firmly believe that this individual has far exceeded what should have been allowed.
I'm tired of people making excuses for his behavior, and being told that there is nothing we can do. The company has much more power than they like to pretend, and all it would take is for management to start documenting his behaviour.
Most of all, I'm tired of the double standards. If he gets away with what he does because he's “special needs”, then by the same logic I should be able to commit retail theft, time theft, and generally ignore my duties and has no negative repercussions because I'm also special needs, correct? If not, then now you're discriminating against me because I don't “look” and “act” autistic. Either way. apply the same standards equally across the board.