Working in retail made me realise how fucked some employers can be about disabilities even though there’s legal protections.
I have a neurological disorder that causes seizures and I often go nonverbal after these, not by choice. I had an accommodation put in place that if I needed to call out I could do so via text as I literally am incapable of speaking.
I have an episode, I text my manager, he reads it. Next shift I get called in to a disciplinary meeting with the area manager too, and he brings it up, telling me that they hoped I felt better, and “if you noticed I did not acknowledge your text as you know it is a requirement to call in”
I was actually so shocked and I think I started to cry and all I could get out was “I go nonverbal with seizures, I told you this when I started”
cue awkward silence, area manager saying, yes that’s agreed upon, and I wouldn’t be getting written up for this but to try and call in next time.
(next time it happened I was in public and had to type out a request for a stranger to ring my work and tell them on my behalf and they didn’t seem too pleased with that one either)