I am new to board but not to MS, being diagnosed in 1995 with RR, which has been controlled with Tysabri until I had to D/C it a couple months ago because of complications.
My question is can/should an employer have a list of its handicapped (their term) employees? I've not disclosed to my present employer but to get parking in the lot close to my office they insist I provide them with documentation of my disability.
A year ago, I moved back to my hometown and was re-hired by my previous employer (a large metro hospital).
They initially hired me in 1986, and were quite accommodating throughout my diagnosis and treatment for MS. I relocated to the northern part of the state and took a job for another hospital, but due to the economy, was laid off, so when a position opened back home, I moved back.
Our department moved to another building 2 months ago. They have surface lot parking, but not enough spaces to accomodate all that are moving into this new building, so we were told if we had worked there less than 2 years we'd have to park in the garage at the original building and take a shuttle to the new building. The perk was we did not have to pay the monthly parking fee if we garage parked and shuttled.
I had not disclosed my diagnosis to my new boss, but did ask for an exemption b/c I have a handicapped placard issued by the state.
Since the move, I've had problems accessing the lot at that building -my badge won't open the gate, so I called parking services today to see what was going on.
I was very taken aback when the woman there told me that I wasn't on their official "handicapped persons" list. She told me that so I would have to continue to park in the garage and take the shuttle over to the new building, but my "reward" was free parking. I first told her that I was still having parking fees removed from my check. She argued that I wasn't, but I told her I had my last two stubs pulled up and was looking at the fees. I reluctantly explained (nicely) to her that I had MS, had difficulty ambulating and had fallen down the stairs of the shuttle (which required an incident report to be filed) earlier in the month. She once again repeated that I wasn't on "their list" and that "she also had just had surgery and also was having a hard time getting around". I about blew a gasket and wanted to say "I'm sure you're going to recover from your surgery, I'm living with this forever", but I bit my tongue. Instead I asked what was needed to get on this list, as I'd been using handicapped parking when I previously worked there without being on any type of list. She told me I'd need to fax over a copy of my placard and send them the registration form my state issues with a placard. I have no idea where my registration form is, since I have a lifetime placard, so until I can produce this, I have to park in the garage or on the street (not a great neighborhood) to get on the list (which I'm not sure I want to be on).
I realize this is longwinded, but I'm not feeling so trusting of an employer that has a "list" of handicapped employees. I could understand if they were looking out for our wellbeing (i.e: we were all in one building and in case of an emergency it would be useful), but we are spread out over a 2 mile campus in many buildings and employ over 10,000 employees city-wide.
I was going to check with my local MS chapter, but didn't want to call from my cubicle -as I haven't (and don't plan to disclose my diagnosis to anyone I work with at this point).
Any input to the legality of this/ADA compliancy of - and who I should take it up with. Unfortunately, I really need the job, so I don't want to jeopardize it, but feel its a catch 22.
Thank you
My question is can/should an employer have a list of its handicapped (their term) employees? I've not disclosed to my present employer but to get parking in the lot close to my office they insist I provide them with documentation of my disability.
A year ago, I moved back to my hometown and was re-hired by my previous employer (a large metro hospital).
They initially hired me in 1986, and were quite accommodating throughout my diagnosis and treatment for MS. I relocated to the northern part of the state and took a job for another hospital, but due to the economy, was laid off, so when a position opened back home, I moved back.
Our department moved to another building 2 months ago. They have surface lot parking, but not enough spaces to accomodate all that are moving into this new building, so we were told if we had worked there less than 2 years we'd have to park in the garage at the original building and take a shuttle to the new building. The perk was we did not have to pay the monthly parking fee if we garage parked and shuttled.
I had not disclosed my diagnosis to my new boss, but did ask for an exemption b/c I have a handicapped placard issued by the state.
Since the move, I've had problems accessing the lot at that building -my badge won't open the gate, so I called parking services today to see what was going on.
I was very taken aback when the woman there told me that I wasn't on their official "handicapped persons" list. She told me that so I would have to continue to park in the garage and take the shuttle over to the new building, but my "reward" was free parking. I first told her that I was still having parking fees removed from my check. She argued that I wasn't, but I told her I had my last two stubs pulled up and was looking at the fees. I reluctantly explained (nicely) to her that I had MS, had difficulty ambulating and had fallen down the stairs of the shuttle (which required an incident report to be filed) earlier in the month. She once again repeated that I wasn't on "their list" and that "she also had just had surgery and also was having a hard time getting around". I about blew a gasket and wanted to say "I'm sure you're going to recover from your surgery, I'm living with this forever", but I bit my tongue. Instead I asked what was needed to get on this list, as I'd been using handicapped parking when I previously worked there without being on any type of list. She told me I'd need to fax over a copy of my placard and send them the registration form my state issues with a placard. I have no idea where my registration form is, since I have a lifetime placard, so until I can produce this, I have to park in the garage or on the street (not a great neighborhood) to get on the list (which I'm not sure I want to be on).
I realize this is longwinded, but I'm not feeling so trusting of an employer that has a "list" of handicapped employees. I could understand if they were looking out for our wellbeing (i.e: we were all in one building and in case of an emergency it would be useful), but we are spread out over a 2 mile campus in many buildings and employ over 10,000 employees city-wide.
I was going to check with my local MS chapter, but didn't want to call from my cubicle -as I haven't (and don't plan to disclose my diagnosis to anyone I work with at this point).
Any input to the legality of this/ADA compliancy of - and who I should take it up with. Unfortunately, I really need the job, so I don't want to jeopardize it, but feel its a catch 22.
Thank you
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