I was Laid Off Today.....

[jamilea]

"We are trying to cut back. It's not because you are sick or anything, you did a great job here."

Yea who are they kidding? I'm 26 years old with an illness. It must have been really easy to lay off the sick girl and take away her only source of health care.

They gave me health insurance after one month of working when they found out I was sick. The owner told me to my face "We are going to support you and get you through this."

Thanks for listening to my rant....

[lilrooster1976]

jamilea

Believe me when I say I feel your pain! I went on an LOA after working for Wal-mart as a manager for 7.5 years. I only took 8 weeks, even though my neuro wanted me off longer as I am still not recovered.

I felt pressured to return by my boss so i got my neuro to release me and went back to work (overnights). That first morning my boss walked in and fired me!

They of course played the same card...It's not because your sick, you did something wrong a month before you went on leave!

I'll be praying for you!

I am working on filing for disability right now, my neuro is behind it 100% and my wife works. Even with her income we are having to file bankruptcy now or we will lose everything including our home.

It's hard to compensate for the loss of a +85k a year job. Plus i lost my medical coverage effective that day!

Things will work out for you, just be strong. the stress will only make things worse for you. There are lots of programs out there to help people like us out.

[CocoH]

That is......well........THAT SUCKS. I wish I had some awesome, inspiring thing to say, but "that sucks" is all I can come up with! Best wishes to you. What a horrible situation to be in. Try not to let it stress you out MORE and possibly add to your symptoms. I'm hoping you have some family support nearby?

[jsoxfan618]

Oh man!!!
So sorry Jamilea. I would be so pissed right now!!! I don't blame you for being angry. For your boss to even mention anything about you being sick in that sentence...Its not right. I'm sure he or she didn't know what to say, but to say that?

First off, take the rest of the day and do something nice for your self. You deserve it after that.
Second: Did they offer you a cobra insurance to cover you while un-employed?
Third: Did you mean they gave you health insurance after one month of working there or after one month of being diagnosed with MS? In Massachusetts I believe employers are allowed to fire or lay off workers w/out reason during their probationary period (up to 6 months) as long as there is no discrimination involved. I don't know what the law is other states. I wonder though, why they gave you health ins after your dx and then fired you? I think you def have a discrimination case on your hands. Either way I would look into it. I hope this makes sense. I've been having trouble staying focused this morning.
Good luck and take care of your self.
-jsox

[jillmb]

Jamilea~

Oh no, I am so sorry to hear this, how awful! I know how scared you must be, I hold the insurance for my family through my job (dh is self employed) and when I got sick all I kept thinking about was that I had to go back to work, I can't lose my job because of the insurance! It's terrible how that's the way it is, but what can we do?

I pray that you will find another job asap with wonderful insurance! Hang in there

Jill

[Sequoia]

Oh wow, Jami Lea, what a terrible thing to have happen!

Apply for unemployment benefits right away, and check into your state's medical insurance program for low-income people (if there is one). With only your husband's income, you may be able to qualify.

In the meantime, I'm wondering if you've already done the paperwork for your colonoscopy. If so, I'd be tempted to just go ahead and get it done because you need it so much, and worry about how you're going to pay for it later. Some clinics/hospitals will work out a payment plan with you if you can't afford to pay the whole thing right away.

I'm so sorry about all this!

[Toomnyhats]

jamilea, I'm so sorry. I had a similar situation. I wasn't told I was chosen to be the one laid of from my dep b/c of my illness, but I know that was it. My saving thought is the co went out of business 9 mos later! And now I have an AWESOME job, much better than anything I ever could have had with the other company.
I will say ... WHEN you get a new job (and you ARE going to get an even better job), don't tell them about your condition unless unless you need accommodations. I haven't told anyone & don't plan on telling until I have a visible problem that affects my work.
Best of luck in your job hunt!


dx 10/2008
Beta babe since 12/2008

[cosake]

How awful - sorry to hear this. You may have a discrimination case if you can prove it, but unfortunately many states are "at will" employment states. You can be let go for any / no reason at any time unless it's blatant discrimination.

Hubby lost his job a few years ago after the owner hooked up with the young secretary and left his wife and kids, and we stayed friends with his ex-wife and kids. No way to prove it, however, but hubby ended up with a much better job and a great boss so it's a better deal for us.

Take the rest of the day to yourself and try to forget about it. Start with a fresh perspective on things tomorrow. Try not to let the stress aggravate your health.

Yell, scream, take a bath, have a drink, whatever you need to do to start moving forward again.

Good luck to you.

[jamilea]

They told me my insurance cuts off Friday and they have submitted my information to Cobra. They didn't even give me my last paycheck.

I haven't been diagnosed with MS. There are a lot of things going wrong with my body right now and I'm still in the process of testing. My colonoscopy is tomorrow, I still have an EMG to do, stool sample tests, Lumbar puncture, imaging of lumbar and thoracic, etc. I still have to do blood work to check my pituitary for any abnormalities because I haven't had a period in almost 9 months and they don't know why. They think I have ulcerative colitis or Crohn's b/c CT scan showed inflammation in colon. We will see after the colonoscopy. They found 2 brain lesions in one MRI, not in line with MS lesions, "not in your average location", 2 months they did another MRI and found 2 more lesions! Again, non specific'.

I'm trying to relax. I just don't know what I'll do now and I'm worried this will really put a lot of stress and pressure on my poor husband who has been carrying me through this whole ordeal.

I don't know if I can sue. They laid of 15 people last week but they were laborers out on the field, tough men trimming trees, spraying and brush cutting on railroads, doing demolitions, ditching, grading, etc. It seems like that made it okay for them to lay me off because then they can group me with them.

[smokeycat]

What a way to ruin a day uh? I am sorry. How long had you worked there? It sounds like they gave you ins then found out you had MS--is that right? Now they don't want to mess with you. I live in NC and it is a no reason to fire you state. I don't know about discrimination. Regardless, it is leaving you in a bind and I am sorry. Maybe someone on here will have some suggestions. Good luck.

[Sir-Voor]

Sorry to hear this being laid off in normal times is hard, and with the massive numbers of people looking for work and the number of job opens going down so much it is make the stock market nose dive today. Even without a illness it would be extremely scary.

But don’t waste emotions on getting mad at your old bosses, if for no other reason stress is unhealthy.

I hope and pray it turns out for you like my last layoff did, going from a long drive, long hours and high stress job to a close to home, low stress, great insurance, normal hours job was the best thing that could have happen to me.
That was 10years ago but God still put earthly stuff in our life’s path to teach us thing we can’t learn in heaven.
It took 6 months of being unemployed to learn what I needed to learn and then God guided me into a great job.

So have faith it will work out, and know there are people here that care and are willing to lesion to rants.

[jamilea]

I just spoke with an attorney who directed me to the EEOC. The EEOC said that I fall under the disability act even without a diagnosis, they are pretty sure.

Since my employer had knowledge of my pending medical condition upon hiring, I can file charges.

They want me to come down to fill out a form and speak with one of their investigators.

[hunterd]

that does suck!!!!!! no words of wisdom from me either, just prayers and roses.


dave

[CasinoKathy]

jamilea, how horrible! I'm so sorry that happened to you.

Everyone has given you great advice, I don't think I can add anything else, other than I'll be praying that things get turned around soon in your favor! Kathy

[RavenousWolf]

Here is a different perspective since I recently got fired but I am plowing through a huge list of employers, agencies, etc.

I actually agree with the course of action by my employer. I do very complex work (and very well paid) and I was hired to begin overseeing the employees of my bosses department so my boss could slowly step into higher management.

My disease played a role in my job performance but the biggest part was my depression and misery; so I would have done the same thing too to a depressed miserable employee.

However, absolutely nobody knows of my disease and I intend to keep it that way for as long as I can. The industry I work in is small and the line of work I do is even smaller so everybody at least knows somebody at a different company.

Instead, I intend to begin anew somewhere else and get better control of the crud I am currently dealing with. So keep moving forward. I am plowing through lots of job openings but it is a tough economy. But overall, nobody else needs to know of this awful disease.