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My boss felt a kinship with me since we both have PTSD. I got fired a couple months later for being “unable to control my panic disorder”. My boss “cleansed my spirits” while I was having an episode after she fired me by hitting me with conifer branches…

yeah. so. that happened. any advice on what to do? i feel like that was kinda fucked up. for context: it was a small, family owned grocery store. my partner worked in the kitchen cart on the same property, owned by the same family. I had previously managed a grocery store and was looking for a job that was doable with my disabilities, and since I'd been a cashier before I thought it would be fine. wrong. not fine. the whole place was a disaster and there were no procedures or proper cash handling steps….just being there gave me anxiety!! My boss, Karen, knew I had PTSD upon hire. She tried to “help” by telling me to get off my meds, start taking supplements and sent me taichi and meditation videos on youtube. When it became clear the initial front end job was affecting my mental health I began advocating…


yeah. so. that happened. any advice on what to do? i feel like that was kinda fucked up.

for context: it was a small, family owned grocery store. my partner worked in the kitchen cart on the same property, owned by the same family. I had previously managed a grocery store and was looking for a job that was doable with my disabilities, and since I'd been a cashier before I thought it would be fine. wrong. not fine. the whole place was a disaster and there were no procedures or proper cash handling steps….just being there gave me anxiety!!

My boss, Karen, knew I had PTSD upon hire. She tried to “help” by telling me to get off my meds, start taking supplements and sent me taichi and meditation videos on youtube. When it became clear the initial front end job was affecting my mental health I began advocating to be moved to the kitchen because it would be better for me and the store. After weeks of anxiety ridden shifts, and almost no training I got scheduled to close alone in the kitchen. I had a panic attack before my shift, but tried to make it in anyway. The manager said I could leave, so I went to sit in my car to wait for my partner to finish grabbing his check. Karen came to my car and asked me to come do tai-chi with her and I was too scared to say no. During the exercise she criticized my movement and breathing, telling me I wasn't doing it right, or trying hard enough. After doing the tai chi she fired me for “being unable to control my panic disorder”, which sent me into another panic attack. I laid on the ground in the fetal position (par for the course for my PTSD) and she proceeded to “cleanse” (or hit) me with conifer branches…it was pretty fucked up and I feel violated in a lot of ways…

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