Throwaway account, as they all write.
It goes like this: I’ve suffered severe mental health problems my entire life. I used to self-medicate with all sorts of substances but that’s not publicly known by any coworkers. I’ve been hospitalized multiple times for suicide attempts gone awry. Started a combination of medications that took away the paralyzing anxiety and constant fixation on dying.
But. In May, under pressure at work and at home, I made another stab at suicide that got me to the ER and then to the Ward for three weeks. My psychiatrist wrote the required “doctor’s note” required for any leave of absence greater than three days. Even prior to the suicide attempt, I had discussed with my psychiatrist taking a temporary leave of absence. I’m generally a hard worker with tunnel vision— I try to go way above and beyond and I’ve been promoted (at this current employer) multiple times over the 7.5 years I’ve been under their employ.
The problem is, my direct supervisor and his direct supervisor didn’t accept the physician’s note. They considered my time in the hospital to be Absent Without Leave. It was fascinating so I spoke to two lawyers who refused to work with me given the agency for whom I work. So I returned, went about a month without any pay due to being “AWOL” while maintaining my insurance benefits.
This despite a very long paper trail that amounts to them effectively discriminating against me despite physician’s notes, an actual call by my psychiatrist to the agency, and my spouse keeping a running update on my stability.
So now I’m back — frightened to leave the job for its seeming security — and I’m quite the pariah. My supervisor wrote a negative review of my performance for the quarter (it was tough to work while hospitalized) and found a neat loophole: if an employee goes AWOL for five or more consecutive days, they no longer can telework. I’ll add that I’ve been on FMLA for six months. Rarely use it because, when I do, they file it under Leave Without Pay. Take one day of LWOP, one is no longer eligible to receive any leave for the pay period (6 hours annual, 4 hours sick leave).
To add to this madness, I broke an arm in a car accident which lead me to ask for telework. Denied. Then reasonable accommodations to allow me to lower my desk so I could reach the keyboard upon which I rely. Denied.
So I ask this: why didn’t they just fire me? Why keep up the punitive measures such as denying me leave to get imaging done on a broken arm? I had to take LWOP to get X-rays every two weeks for four weeks. So no leave was accrued for two months. They don’t have to approve leave but… really?
Any thoughts on recourse here? I’m stuck working on site with all vacation days denied. I can’t telework due to one agency-wide email arbitrarily mentioning AWOL repercussions. I feel like I’m being made an example of. I’m frightened to even ask for references so I can move on to a saner environment.
This has all been very bad for my mental state, let alone hope for advancement. Not that I should want a career at The Agency at this point.
This is all true. I don’t care about karma but I need to be informed of what I can do to save my professional life. I’m asking for help.