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This is going to be a super long post so please stick around. Looking for any advice with the EEOC.
For reference
Crane- overhead roller crane
Team manager-big boss over whole department
Supervisor- shift coordinator salaried
Step up- same as supervisor only hourly, basically his #2
For starters I was previously employed for over 3 years with a giant steel mill as a crane operator but I bounced around the warehouse doing all types of jobs. I made 100k/yr with great benefits tons of overtime and working swing shift, which I loved.
In October we were informed that our hours were to be cut until the new year. Now not everyone was going to have their hours cut and management asked for any volunteers. I didn’t mind getting off two hours early everyday so I volunteered to work in another area not operating a crane due to crane operators not having their hours cut. Almost immediately I was taken out of my work area and put back in a crane but still on reduced hours. This upset me due to my hours being cut to be in another area. Things started to get out of hand when my supervisor started telling people they had to stay over with less than an hour before our shift ended. I refused stating I needed more than an hour notice and was threatened with disciplinary actions. I called the corporate hotline to file a complaint. A week later the local HR site called me to discuss any issues I may have witnessed while on shift. The call I made to the hotline was supposed to be anonymous, however I was the only one HR reached out to. I even made the representative from the hotline aware that I was fearful of retaliation.
What happens next I can only describe as targeting. Due to me volunteering to have my hours cut to be in another area, with a different job title, I started to complain about having to operate a crane. My supervisor did not like this at all. I was threatened to be switched with another operator since “I thought volunteering to having my hours reduced and put in another area doing another job. meant I didn’t have to operate a crane” readers should know I never refused any assignment or job duty. I simply made my displeasure known. I was then given “hard assignments” multiple times a week in the crane when we usually rotated those areas so to only have to do them once per rotation to keep everyone fresh.
On October 29th I was put back into a hard assignment on a very busy night. Much busier than normal. So much so I did not have time to use the bathroom. Roughly 5 hours after my shift had started. Now would be a good time to inform the reader that I have Crohn’s disease and disclosed this before I got hired. I texted my “step up” and asked for relief, he promptly told me no. I then informed him that I haven’t had a break nor lunch and that I was entitled to both. He still refused so I got down anyway because I had to poo, this prompted him to call me cussing me out and calling me child. I then walked to his office and told him that he would no longer talk to me that way that I was done taking his crap. He threatened to fire me if I did not immediately get back in the crane but again I had to use the bathroom so I that’s what I did. When I finished with my bathroom break (roughly 10 minutes) I realized my step up had gotten in my crane to relieve me so I in turn thought it was okay to take my lunch break. In total from the time it took me to get out of the crane walk down four flights of stairs and then to his office have the conversation with him use the bathroom eat my lunch and then get back in the crane was 38 minutes. (I get an hour for lunch) I think things are fine until a few hours later around 2am I get called to the office and am ambushed by my supervisor and team manger who got called in from home. I was informed he got called and told that I got down without relief and when I was specifically told not to and then refused to get back in the crane. I informed my team manager that I asked for relief multiple times and that I have a medical condition and needed to use the bathroom in addition to what he was told not being that case at all. After informing him of the medical condition I was sent back to work without any consequences. However I told him that the step up has been harassing me and threatening to fire me for almost a year. I offered to give him the 17 screenshots I have as proof. He declined and just told me to get back to work. Because of this I made another call to the corporate hotline named all three of my bosses submitted screenshots and reported them for targeting and harassment.