I want to preface this really quick. I'm currently not diagnosed with anything, but it's highly suspected I have Rheumatoid arthritis. I have multiple relatives with it, and have been showing all the classic signs, but since i'm 21, mentally ill and a uterus owner it's hard to find a doc who doesn't just write me off as crazy. At this point, whatever is going on, there is visual swelling/warping of my joints, i pop pain meds like they're candy and struggle to stand on my feet for periods of more than an hour or two.
Because of these issues, i chatted with my GM a few months ago and we agreed the best solution would be a 5 gallon bucket in the drive thru. I liked it, it allowed me to not be in tons of pain, but still be present in the workplace, the managers liked it too.
Recently morale in the workplace has been at an all time low, we are severely understaffed, over worked, and under paid. I have been doing everything in my power to keep morale up in ways i can, I've been getting doughnuts, keeping energy drinks on hand, hyping people up etc. Even the GM made a comment about me being the glue that kept shit running. The teenagers also don't really respect the managers as much as they respect me, so if i tell them to do something, they do it because they know i have a reason for telling them to do it. The managers would also frequently rely on me to know how things are done, handle the high schoolers, and i was often handed every karen that came through.
Last week, we were mid rush and the AM (area manager) took my pickle bucket to the back. Since we were in a rush i didn't mind because i had shit to be doing and didn't have time to sit anyway. Later in the day when it slowed down i tried to lean/sit on the edge of the counter because my feet were in serious pain, my GM made me stand up. At this point i literally sat on the floor, in tears, because of how much pain i was in. My pain threshold and tolerance is stupid high because of being an emo in HS, just for perspective i have broken the same bone TWICE and both times thought it was 'just sore'.
At this point i go looking for my faithful bucket, and then the AM informs me i won't be getting it back because he didn't want me sitting. He looked at me while I had tears streaming down my face from pain, couldn't straighten my shaking legs, and basically told me 'suffer lol'. I saw red and told him if he didn't give my bucket back i'd walk out that door, he told me 'if that's what you need to do' and i needed to, so i did.
Both the AM and the GM are fully aware i have problems, and i refuse to allow both of them to try and force me to suffer pain that would put most in the hospital. Hell, they have BOTH seen me using a cane at work to get around, everyone there knows that i can't open small bottles. There was absolutely no excuse for forcing me to just plain suffer for minimum wage, so i'm gone!
Over the past week i've been getting texts from the managers telling me what's going on. Apparently, everyone is pissed off at them for treating me like that because I was too damn useful to get rid of and now they're struggling even more. The high schoolers aren't listening to the managers, no one knows how to do anything, and they're all miserable. I've actually gotten texts asking me how to do things because our GM rarely answers her phone and i'm a thesaurus of policies and procedures.
Before anyone comments this, i know yall are thinking it, while i possibly have a case, it would be too much of a headache for me to want to bother with it anyway. I'm not formally diagnosed with anything, plus this agreement was word of mouth only and not done through HR.