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my work almost fired me and are trying to get me to quit. now accusing me of time theft. i stood up for myself. could i actually get in legal trouble? need help

i have a sleep disorder, narcolepsy, which caused me to no-call no-show a few times. i couldn’t wake up so i couldn’t call in. i have a remote job. we’re overstaffed. my absences broke no laws and caused no real problems in the workplace. other than hurting my work-ethic image. when i almost got fired i explained and apologized wholeheartedly. they already knew i was struggling bc of disability. it seems like they only didn’t fire me due to their own fear of breaking ADA laws. i didn’t mention it at all… they did…. they even recommended i take unpaid FMLA. well, they didn’t recommend it, they basically said i’m going to and they were sending me an email on how to submit it. they were so pushy about it that i actually had to ask if i HAD to. they said no then kept going on about it, and…


i have a sleep disorder, narcolepsy, which caused me to no-call no-show a few times. i couldn’t wake up so i couldn’t call in. i have a remote job. we’re overstaffed. my absences broke no laws and caused no real problems in the workplace. other than hurting my work-ethic image.

when i almost got fired i explained and apologized wholeheartedly. they already knew i was struggling bc of disability. it seems like they only didn’t fire me due to their own fear of breaking ADA laws. i didn’t mention it at all… they did…. they even recommended i take unpaid FMLA. well, they didn’t recommend it, they basically said i’m going to and they were sending me an email on how to submit it. they were so pushy about it that i actually had to ask if i HAD to. they said no then kept going on about it, and i said im getting treatment and will not need FMLA.

they “wanted to make sure i had the right resources available to me” for my disability. as they continued to belittle me and say i’m “lucky” to not be fired, talk down to me, etc.

ever since then, my supervisor has been smothering me, intensely checking every minute of my schedule and time clock everyday and hounding me and reminding me about how my last warning was my final one. even though i haven’t missed work since.

this job treats their employees horribly and i’ve been working there passively. i have multiple job offers and will be switching to a higher paying job soon.
i refuse to quit, because i know they want me to so i can’t collect unemployment. also, they are treating me so poorly i am not giving them the satisfaction.

they have been under scrutiny recently for union busting, stealing wages. they’re actually known for wage theft. my own punches have been edited multiple times with strange notes and i have never once been notified, informed, or questioned about my hours those times.

so here’s the scary legal part.
federally and by my state an unpaid lunch break isn’t required.
last week my supervisor messaged me that i didn’t take my 30 minute unpaid lunch for a measly 6 hour shift, the hour at which the company requires one.

my supervisor said this is illegal. i told her i didn’t know it was required and that i have NEVER heard or read that it’s illegal for an employee not to take their lunch. I know you can be fired, but I’ve only heard of it being illegal for an employer not to OFFER the lunch break.

i told her it was a mistake and i didn’t realize, i was busy with work duties and did not have the time. I apologized , said it won’t happen again.

She responds with some BS like “okay since it was an honest mistake i'll let you off this time.. but the law for US is…” referring to company not the state laws.
like hello?? first of all bitch, AFAIK companies have policies, not laws and im pretty sure your “laws” dont supersede the companies state laws or federal government.

today i get another message from her that I had a clock in for a day I didn’t work. it was literally one hour, the day after i worked that hour. so basically i had an accidental duplicate punch. I looked at my time sheet, told her I must have accidentally entered it for the wrong day since the punch time was the same as the hour for the day I actually worked.

She said she’ll fix it but said it’s ~time theft~ And its VERY SERIOUS… lol ok.

So is it just me or have I literally done nothing illegal and my supervisor is just intimidating me, and now twice accusing me of committing work crimes? This is getting ridiculous. I’m starting to see a pattern and feel like they may be throwing this and the fear of breaking the law at me, because they’re worried about breaking ADA law if they fire me? Company provides a federal ADA service and my job is funded by the FCC so it makes too much sense to me.

Either way they’re trying to catch me in the wrong and fire me.

BTW, there is no way for us to see the actual times we were working officially on the company server. Only supervisors can see that if they’re feeling nice enough to show you.

We’re suffocated by having to comply with strict metrics which records times we are actively in a specific program. Anything outside of the program is still work but not counted toward our metrics. AKA, we have no time to check our email, timesheet, team messages, or load company software without being punished and potentially fired for doing part of our job. We’re encouraged frequently to do this off the clock. AKA, another way they commit wage theft!

Anyway I don’t even recall seeing this on my time card or entering it so they may have entered it themselves. Their systems are extremely glitchy too and have erased my approved time off in the past leading to at least 1 of my no shows.

I responded by respectfully telling her off. I said it wasn’t time theft, it was clearly an error i acknowledged – if anything they have committed wage theft and edited my punches with no communication. “I would be happy to audit my time sheet but I’m sure I’d find more wage theft than ‘time theft on my end.’ I don’t appreciate you intimidating me with legal terms. I actually know my rights, and workplace law.”
I mentioned being encouraged to work off the clock to check email etc.

Most importantly… I finished it with
“If you want to make this into a legal issue that it’s not, I’m happy to contact my attorney. I am not going to allow myself to continue to be belittled and micromanaged because of my past no shows due to my disability. If you want me to quit you’ll have to fire me. I’m not resigning.”

Remember that I never once said anything about ADA or any legalities before this.
I already expect to be fired. I’m not gonna be treated like an ape and kep being told I’m doing something illegal against the company.

I’m working poverty wages part time, there’s no use in going after me legally. But could my actions or mention of contacting my attorney put me in any legal trouble?

I actually do have an attorney, I’m sure they don’t expect me to because of my age and pay rate here. Also, it’s my supervisor, who barely makes more than me, that’s making these comments. I feel harassed. I wouldn’t be surprised if our upper manager didn’t know about these legal comments.

During our 3-way meeting w upper manager, I admitted to having anxiety as it was very obvious. I was apologetic and kind, not exactly doormat but accountable and expressed my desire to keep my job. I have been nice to this supervisor, wished her well during recent illness, check in often for my performance.

It seems she knows this and is getting a powertrip out of it all. She’s yelled at me in emails etc. Goes from being fake nice to belittling and questioning my every move. She even had me send her a screenshot of a call I made to tech support “just to check”. That’s not required bc they can see it in the system AND I had a ticket number! It’s automatic every time.

I am definitely getting a new job and I already doordash etc. But idk wtf is happening or if I’m actually at risk of legal action.

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