When I was interviewed by the National School and Community Corps
(AmeriCorps), I wasn't told that sometime during my service I would
have to go out of state for a week for a special training course. If
I'd known, I wouldn't have taken the job. Now, I'm being kicked out of
a job I love because, for personal and health reasons (I'm 67, for one
thing), I can't attend the training sessions. I feel I was hired under
false pretenses. Do I have any rights? What are they? I'm not looking
for money; I just want to continue in a meaningful job helping
inner-city high-school kids to read and write.

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Request for Question Clarification by lot-ga on 02 Aug 2002 19:57 PDT

Hello,
did you have a contract of appointment..
sometimes in the small print there is (not always) a section that says
something to the effect that there may be occasions where the employee
may be required to work at a different location other than the normal
office premises to fulfil the job requirements or training.
regards lot-ga

---

Clarification of Question by sinuhe-ga on 03 Aug 2002 07:26 PDT

Nothing in my terms of service or contract says anything about going
out of town for any reason.

Two questions:
1 How long have you been employed there?
2 Are you disabled, as would be covered by the ADA

If they new of your disability when hired, or if you have become
disabled while emloyed there you may have a very good argument that
they must accommodate your needs.

I have been employed by NSCC since March 22, 2002. I am not legally
disabled, but at 67 I have an assortment of health and personal
concerns that I feel should be taken into account. These were told
orally six weeks ago to my supervisor and her supervisor, and
reiterated in writing to my supervisor's supervisor:

1.	I am 67 years old;
2.	I have cataracts in both eyes. I don’t want to attend a 4H camp
where I might have be outdoors longer than I think healthy;
3.	I have benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), which means that I get up
every hour and a half or so to go to the bathroom; this might not be
appreciated by my three roommates;
4.	In addition to that, I don’t sleep well anywhere but in my own bed
in my own home; as a result, I’d probably be tossing and turning or
reading all night long, with the result that the next day I’d be
nervous, irritable, unable to concentrate and likely to fall asleep
during the more boring presentations;
5.	I have to juggle five prescription drugs and three supplements;
6.	I have an incipient hernia. Although it’s been stable for decades,
there’s no way of knowing when it might pop.
7.	I am on a strict low-fat, low-sodium, dairy-free vegetarian diet.
Judging from the junk food we were served at the last training
session, at Bok, I can’t depend on NSCC to meet my dietary needs.
Here’s what we got to eat at Bok:
·	For breakfast—NutraGrain bars (glorified candy bars made with dairy
products and enough chemicals to start a small laboratory);
·	Hi-C (flavored sugar water passing itself off as juice);
·	For lunch—pizza (loaded with sodium, saturated fat and dairy
products);
·	Ironically, with all this junk food, I still couldn’t get a cup of
coffee and had to go to some greasy spoon at Seventh and Mifflin;
8.	I have lived with my present two cats for thirteen years without
leaving
      them alone even overnight; I can’t just abandon them for an
entire week.

You might want to disccuss your course of action with a lawyer (ADA
specialty)
or at least a local Legal Aid bureau before making too big a scene at
work,
especialy since you do want to continue to work there!'

While I am not an attorney (and this is NOT legal advice!) I noticed
in your last comment that:
1.  you have been employed ony 4 months, could this be considered a  
    probationary period where your could be dismissed more easily ???
2.  You only notified your supervisors of the medical problems 6
weeeks ago,
    (you don't say if this was before or after being informed of the
trip)
    they might consiider this a reason that you were not eligible to
be hired
    in the first place, and that you hid those facts.That could be
grounds for
    dismisal
3.  Note that most organizations (large and/or governmental or
receiving govt funds)
     are very eager to go to extreme lengths (and expense) to hire &
train
     the handicapped, and may have entire departments that specialize
in that field
     They actualy can get gov't funding for doing so.
4.   You do not necessarily have to be "officialy" classified as
disabled to be covered by the ADA.
5.   Be prepared however to make some concessions. Special food needs
may be a
     reasonable request, where only your home cooking might not!

There should be a reasonable solution

Thanks, Bob, for getting back to me so fast and in such detail.

My term of service is only for 42 weeks.

Since I just got an excellent evaluation, I don't see how I could
still be on probation. I got my evaluation at the same time as I got
my termination notice (August 1).

I don't know what concessions they would be willing to make since
they've already terminated me as of August 8.

I notified my supervisors about my inability to attend the training
camp as soon as I found out that I had to go. As I said, I was not
told this when I was hired.

My health concerns have never affected my ability to work. It never
occurred to me to discuss my personal life when I was interviewed for
the job. Should I also have told them that I'm impotent? Would keeping
that piece of information to myself also be considered cause for
dismissal? I also have varicose veins. How much do I legally have to
reveal to a future employer?

The special food needs were just one of several health concerns that I
listed.

I will contact the ADA, as well as my senators and congressman, maybe
even the President. Since AmeriCorps is part of the Federal
government, they may be concerned at the way Federal workers are being
treated.

Dear Sinuhe,


Just a comment...having taken one course of US Business Law.  

Most work/employee contracts say that you are hired 'at will', which
gives the employer the right to end employment for any reason (with
exceptions) and gives you the right to leave for any reason.  (Read
your contract for these two words.) The exceptions are discrimination
based on race, sex, age, religion, national origin, sexual
orientation, veteran status ...and there may be a couple more.

Unless you can show that your employer has fired you simply because
you are older (e.g. s/he knew that you couldn't perform such duties,
made them up just to show that you can't perform them, and then came
up with rationale to HR to let you go) then you may have a case.
However, if everyone in the equivalent position must perform the same
tasks you cannot, and the employer deems such tasks vital, then you
may not have a case.

The employer is also not required to disclose all duties at hire
becauses positions change over time, given the business environment.

I also doubt your employer would have hired you knowing that you
couldn't perform vital tasks.  It's not fun for anyone to let
employees go.

My perspective is that they were not thorough in interviewing you, but
they may not be at fault for wrongful termination.

From the little I know, it sounds like you should be better off
looking for a similar type of position that doesn't require the duties
you cannot perform, while keeping a friendly disposition with your old
employer for future recommendations.

Much luck, and keep optimistic and looking forward,
Claudietta