webexplorer said:
Not quite true.
My hard of hearing friend worked at a printing company for more than 5 years. He has a sense of humor, and he was one the supervisors. He was de-promoted due he thought he understood the communications on the telephone (only talking his employees for his request supplies, etc). Almost all employees know him very well. He transferred to a low level department, and struggled to make money for 1 or 2 years to feed his family. He has a deaf wife and two hearing kids 6 and 8 year olds, and almost made his wife to get divorced. At last, he was layoff. It was just a dirty business for the company to be in the process of laying him off slowly without breaking the law.
Did your friend file the grievance against the company? That would ensure to protect hir reputation and also hir career. Every employee and every employer always make lots of errors. They should have prearranged your friend a second chance.
What is the Grievance?
• Violation of the Contract - Contract violations involve such matters as seniority, hours work, staffing, wages, working conditions, holidays and vacations and disciplinary actions without just cause which are covered specifically in the contract.
• Violation of Past Practices - The contact does not cover every practice on the job. Some have been established and recognized by both the union and management, and may be written or unwritten.
• Violation of Fair Treatment - Difficult to prove, but important for the union to document and grieve because if one worker is discriminated against or mistreated, the practice could spread.
• Violation of Federal and/or State Laws - Laws written to protect workers are implicitly part of the contract, and violation of them can constitute a grievance.
• Violation of Management=s Rules or Responsibilities - Management can make rules and set its policies and if they break these, it may constitute a grievance.
It is not necessary to hire the lawyer since you need to write a letter to the human resources department or president of the company. They will possibly consider giving you a second chance or putting you on probation without demoting your position.
However, your friend is too late to write a grievance since the company would allow their limited period, such as 3 days to 30 days. Check with your company for the copy of company policy/guideline.
webexplorer said:
My other friend who is deaf, and is a professional designer for a heating company. He graduated from RIT. He has been working for 12 years. His hearing partner worked for two years and got promoted. He did not get promoted because he was not able to talk on the phone except his SK2. But, not the case, his president wants all employees to use the phone at the company. He does not want my friend to use a relay service because of his consume time and its expense. This is not breaking the law. Recently, he applied for a different job, and turned down because his test is failed due test time limted. The problem was that he was accepted for a job interview, and he saw five people in the group for the test. He did not realize that these people were looking for the same job. You know Monster website for applying a job and e-send out the resume. That website service is big worthless. That something new to me.
Your friend has a good chance to sue against the company for not believing in communication. Of course, you already knew that there is Video Relay Service that your friend can easily communicate. That company is violated your friend’s right in ADA. Any VRS competitor would provide a free videophone. There is no extra cost for using online interpreting service via the phone instead of hiring in-house interpreter for the company. Your friend works almost 12 years for a one company. Isn’t it for him to add a new company on his resume? It is not worth to work for a company for many years. Most of the employers prefer to hire the new employees with tremendous experiences in varies of companies.
Don’t forget to write a first grievance. If the company turned it down, your friend will have a huge chance to sue against the company. Don’t you know that some of attorney firms can easily accept your friend’s case without requesting hir to pay the cost….