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My advice (as an L&E associate) is call an attorney asap.
Mentor
Oh yeah, seconding this. I should have put this in my comment.
I will also gladly name the firm
Someone just posted a few days ago about McDermott doing stealth layoffs.
Sounds like discrimination. Also not seeing any effort to make reasonable accommodations. Speak to employment attorney IMMEDIATELY. Please please please.
Mentor
Yup, accommodation process should be iterative.
Call a lawyer asap. I would take down your post calling out the firm by name. Don’t give them any fodder. Good luck.
Subject Expert
This is fucked up.
What state are you in? You may have also been entitled to additional job-protected leave under state law that you weren’t provided.
From a quick Google search: The District of Columbia Family and Medical Leave Act (DCFMLA) requires employers with 20 or more employees to provide eligible employees with 16 weeks of unpaid family leave and 16 weeks of unpaid medical leave during a 24 month period.
I don’t know the interplay with FMLA (I don’t practice in DC) but certainly worth looking into. Again, like everyone said, call a plaintiff’s side employment attorney in the area. I work in defense but would be happy to get recommendations from my DC colleagues.
Enthusiast
Sorry this happened. In general terms… not legal advice… in a scenario like this there are a couple of things at play here. “Part time work” or a reduced workload is generally not considered to be a “reasonable accommodation.” However, WFH has been determined by many district courts to be a reasonable accommodation in many instances especially for white collar desk jobs. EEOC guidance also directs employers to grant WFH requests if it is not unduly burdensome to the employer. Things like “management preference” to be in the office are insufficient to deny a WFH request. That being said, an employer has a duty to “engage in the interactive process” in good faith with an employee— if they don’t like your proposed accommodations they can propose or choose another one they deem to be sufficient. Sounds like they didn’t do that. Firing you could be retaliation, if you were considered to be an employee during that time. I don’t know the rules or what the policy is with your disability program/insurance.
Could the essential functions of your job be performed at home — or on a part time basis? Will be a very hard sell.
Nonetheless, you could file a complaint with the EEOC. That is the first step in the process, if you’re unable to work things out with the employer. You can also file with your state’s human rights commission/eeo office, doing a dual filing.
Thank you LC1! appreciate all the good advice. 💗
Also I’ve been on leave for 1 year already. In my accommodations I noted I could come back next month, part time, working from home as needed so I can prioritize my appointments.
You could also file charges for discrimination with the EEOC and other state agencies regarding this. The timing here is very suspect
L&E associate here. Definitely speak with an employment attorney. McDermott (like all employers) has an obligation to engage in an interactive process regarding disability accommodations.
Mentor
What AA1 said, find an L&E attorney as soon as possible. This definitely sounds a bit sketchy.
I have depression, anxiety, OCD, and really bad PTSD. Lots of childhood trauma here that unfortunately decided to come out at the worst time. I asked to 1) transition back into my role part time at first, for a few months and 2) be able to WFH as needed for appointments.
Mentor
Could you provide any additional details regarding what you asked for?
In the comments below.