My wife has Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS). Think of this using a bucket theory, a combination of allergens and histamines can fill up her bucket causing mast cells to overreact sending her into an allergic reaction – asthma attacks, GI issues or anaphylaxis. She’s super careful and has it under control, not the type to chase away peanut eaters, an expert in avoidance, and packing her own food. She worked for a school for students with specials needs, they literally make educational and physical accommodations for every single student. About 6 months into her first year on the job she started having trouble. She worked in a dank old 100 year building, full of portable air filters and windows that don’t open. They did some “construction” in the building around the same time that her symptoms got worse. They claimed it was electrical work. She talked to her supervisor who refused to believe that she was sick and instead asked her if maybe she was just pregnant or had seasonal alllergies.
After an ER visit she talked to HR who moved her upstairs, then to a temporary office where she felt much better. They hired a part timer into that office, and moved her into a classroom temporarily during the summer. Throughout the process she provided several doctors notes and even facilitated a call between HR and her specialist in which the DR explained MCAS and aggrevating factors such as mold, perfumes and certain foods – as well as the bucket analogy. The doctor told the HR director it’s best if she doesn’t go back to that building. After a few weeks they told her there was no real estate available and no chance to shuffle offices around and that she would have to return to the original office where she got sick, or talk to HR about getting a different job that would have a different office. “Those are the options in front of you” they said. We still think they could have just put the part timer in her original office and problem solved 🤷️
In thinking about going back she asked for an air quality report under the guidance of her specialist. This is where it gets crazy! For some unknown reason (which I bet their lawyers thought was a mistake) they provided her with an external report that documented high levels of mold in the building. To our shock the report revealed that, based on the dates, the “electrical work” was actually mold remediation. They effectively confessed that the whole time they knew there was mold and that they actively ignored her doctor’s advice. They also never told staff about the mold remediation. They knew the whole time and ignored it! If they went cleaned it up why not explain it to someone whose doctor said mold is a serious problem? Why not say, yeah but we fixed it? Sure, they did remediation, but after not being told about the mold or the details of the project or future plans to monitor air quality there was no way she was going to risk it. She talked to lawyers, filed workers comp and started looking for a new job. This may not have happened if they told the staff about the mold and closed the building during the remediation project. They kicked up dust and mold with everyone in the building. I can only assume they lied about the project because they knew it would upset everyone and even folks without preexisting conditions would be uncomfortable.
This week it all came to end. They terminated her for not being able to work in the moldy old building, and because they refuse to make any accommodations for her medical condition. They gave her a small severance and 15 pages of “can’t sue us” clauses.
The best part is that 90 min after she got terminated she got another job offer. It’s so ironic because if the offer came first she would have put in her 2 weeks and ran for the hills. But they took action first and now get to pay out the package. She gets double pay, and a small taste of karmic justice.
But the reality of it still stings. Employers everywhere know they are putting people at risk and refuse to take responsibility, even if making accommodations is literally their business. She never demanded anything more than a safe and clean space on campus – she never even asked for wfh because these stubborn boomers would never have gone for that (even though the HR lady’s voicemail says her phone line is not monitored because she works remotely). The irony and hypocrisy is just insane. It’s no wonder there’s a sub called antiwork, and I hope this story helps the cause.