Hello reddit, it has been a few months since my boss stabbed me in the back and although things have settled down, I am still recovering from what happened. The characters of this story are my boss or sm (store manager), my supervisor Sam (sales assistant manager), and Laura supervisor. Also, some may recognize this story from an early vague post I made while things were going down.
To begin in February I was diagnosed with PTSD and reoccurring depression, this was no suprise to me. I have had panic attacks and crippling anxiety for years and get bad depression every month ( yah hormones suck). February was also the 6-month review for my retail job, and as most could guess my anxiety and nerves came up a lot. Job stress was not only destroying my mental health but my physical health as well. I was getting migraines so strong I couldn't stand, as well as terrible colds that would last weeks. As a result, I felt it was important to be open and honest with my boss about my conditions and apologize for how it was affecting my job (people pleaser style). Both sm and Sam conveyed their understanding and even shared they both had daughters who had poor mental health and that they were willing to help and brought up accommodations. Feeling all was well with the world I spoke with my doctor and therapist coordinated a date and began the process. As instructed by policy I went on unpaid leave while a third-party company handled the paperwork cause HIPA or something. That experience was a whole other can of worms, but I came out stressed, and ready to return to work as I had not been paid in a month.
On day one of returning, I meet with sm and sam to discuss what my accommodations were, what expectations were, and get everyone on the same page. It is important to note my accommodations were approved by a board of people who believed they were reasonable and believed I would be able to do my job as a cashier. At no point during the process of applying where my accommodations questioned or negotiated. My accommodations included a max of two 5–10-minute breaks a day if I were to recognize a panic attack and need to leave the floor, 1-2 days a month I could take off if my anxiety was too high to work that day, written instructions for unfamiliar tasks, and a dedicated space for feedback. Throughout the meeting sm kept asking questions trying to really narrow down specifics however it came across as very sharp and not only made me uncomfortable and unsure but anxious to the point I went nonverbal for a bit. It felt as though sm was taken aback that I would ask for such things and believed them to be very inconvenient though she couldn't legally say so. The questions were very vague and confusing, and I did not understand what she was getting at. It eventually came out that sm had concerns but we were going to trial the accommodations to see if they were possible. I left the meeting tired and disoriented, but still giving management the benefit of the doubt, I mean surely, they were going to work with me I had been a dependable worker for two years.
On day four of being back I was pulled into the office by sam, and seeing another manager in the corner clued me in that something was up. I was sat down and handed a stack of papers, and told I was being issued two write ups. This came as a shock as not only had I not been back for long, I had also not been written up before or coached recently. The first was for leaving when I was scheduled to leave even though I had not finished the task I was given. I had communicated this task could not be completed in the time left in my shift and made my manager aware that day. The second write up was for how I sold a warranty on a tool, we are scripted to tell the customer the warranty covers manufacture problems and general ware and tare. In order to sell more I usually inform customers general ware and tare does not mean broken and they can bring the tool in at the end of the warranty. I was written up for doing so and told it was proof I was incapable of being professional with customers. I was given no chance to dispute, all questions I asked were shut down, and I was given no plan for coaching or improvement. After I signed the write ups as instructed, I asked sam if I was going to be fired and how many write ups I had left before that happened. Sam refused to answer the question, gathered the papers and told me I could go home for the day. I left the office in tears, not only did the write ups threaten termination in writing, but management was now refusing to speak to me and would not say another word to me in the rest of the time I worked there.
I went back for two more days however I was so worked up it was difficult to focus, I genuinely believed I was going to get fired at any moment and was given no reason to believe otherwise. Laura and another coworker knew something was up and asked if I was ok, so I let them read my write ups. They were speechless and discussed at how incorrect, and unprofessional the write ups were. Laura and the other coworker then informed me the whole team had been informed I had PTSD and reoccurring depression and all of my accommodations. I immediately panicked as I have family in town that can't know of my conditions. I also realized that was why a few coworkers had been ignoring me and making comments about me being lazy or dramatic. This sent me into a mental break down, I had multiple panic attacks a day, couldn't get out of bed until I had to, and struggled to eat and take care of myself or keep my apartment clean. I ended up quitting as I saw no future with the company, was being shunned and harassed, and couldn't physically take any more stress. On my way out I took several coworkers with me as we also found out the creepy coworker was a registered offender ( yah wild). On top of that I told the district manager and HR everything I knew but as far as I know management still works there and creepy guy is up for promotion. It took me a month to recover mentally, and two months of job hunting to find employment. All together though I still don't trust any management, and don't think I ever will. Your coworkers are not your friends, your boss will replace you, and HR is there to protect the company not you. And if any of you are looking for quality tools at cheap prices look elsewhere, they dump their employees as soon as they ask for help.