To preface, I am a severe asthmatic. I developed it and was diagnosed late last year while my company was fully remote due to covid. I was out on medical leave for a few months due to my breathing when they decided to make everyone come back into the office. My asthma is considered nonresponsive which just means it's treatment resistant. The only medicine that it has responded to is a monthly shot that suppresses part of my immune system by limiting a certain type of white blood cells. It's like magic but it does leave me susceptible to an illness.
My doctor recommended I work from home permanently. Walking everyday around campus and the office air was exacerbating my symptoms. I had to take more rounds of steroids to be able to function. My job declined to let me stay home. I went to the office. The first month I had to leave early at least once a week but they would let me work from home when I did. The second month I was missing dull days every week but I was still able to work from home as needed. I turned in an official ADA accommodation request to work from home fully. They denied it. They moved my desk closer to the doors but that mean my desk was now in an enclosed former conference room with 5 other people. A few weeks later and I'm now missing multiple days a week and they decided I could no longer work from home. I had to use PTO if I could not come into the office.
I turned in another ADA request but this time from my pulmonary doctor. They again denied it. I missed three days that week. We had to all work from home because of a snow storm. They told me they were denying it because “we're better together.” I was just done. I started applying and interviewing.
Last week I accepted a fully remote position at a higher salary and a sign on bonus. I won't be giving them a two weeks notice. If I turn in my notice I lose all my sick hours and floating holiday hours. I will be taking off most of this week and then quitting on Friday.
Screw you company for thinking you know more than my lung doctor in terms of my asthma. Screw you for having company “values” that you care about your employees then making my health issues worse for some antiquated belief we need to be in office. Screw you.