I just started a job at a large auto parts retailer (US). I was hired as a parts driver. I have just completed my training, only to be told they do not allow the use of GPS in their delivery vehicles. You have to remember how to get everywhere.
Balls. I have autism. I also have the memory of a goldfish, and the attention span of a lizard. I always drive with GPS, even when I'm not working. I have memorized enough to follow the main roads to get back home from almost anywhere in the city I live in (Davenport, IA), But if I go across the river, I'm lost without GPS. Due to how my mind works, I can't really remember everything required to navigate to all possible locations.
I was not informed of this during hiring. Had I been told then, I could have chosen to bow out. But now, I'm stuck in, and this is all too familiar. Previously, I worked at a competing auto parts store. I was hiring as a commercial parts driver. I had just gotten my license at the time, and told the manager I didn't quite feel comfortable driving yet. He said that was fine, and said I could work the counter until I felt comfortable enough to drive. Well, working the counter, I was exposed to people smelling of body spray/cigarette/marijuana smoke, and people sitting in the parking lot playing loud bass for no reason. These are all triggers for me, and would force me to leave the counter. The manager told me he was forbidding me from driving until all this improved… which it can't. So even though it still said “Commercial Parts Driver” on my name tag, I was forbidden to do a job I was hired to do. Never mind the fact that before I got my car insured, I rode there on a motorcycle. So I resigned.
Anyway, I talked to the district manager of the place I currently work, and she said she is talking to HR about this, and will get back to me. I'm curious… if they refuse, can I fight that? Is that a refusal to accommodate?