How to address a coworker faking her hearing loss

MotionInSilver

MotionInSilver

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I am in a very weird and uncomfortable situation. This is about the workplace. And someone faking being deaf.

I have a coworker who is actually hearing and pretends she is deaf to her own benefit. Something was not right with her. She hears a lot better than most of the hearing staff and that speaks volumes. I am very profound deaf and a lot of hearing/other HOH/deaf coworkers have questioned her validity of being deaf.... She is proficent in sign language however will talk behind peoples back and undermine them and create stories to create drama. She has been caught in a series of lies. She is messed up in the head does not give me straight answers to her hearing test and give others different answer every time and it is starting to piss me off that she is playing the HOH card too frequently when caught with something shes not able to get out of. She thinks any male staff or customers are hitting on her constantly. She just needs a reality check but I do not want to start something that I get blammed for but what can I do as a fellow coworker seeing someone taking advantage of the system. She even has managed to get a VP and has never used it because she uses the phone perfectly any kind of phone she hears a mouses fart from upstairs....that's how creepy it is getting.
 
Unless she is doing something that seriously undermines safety or security at the company I think it's not for you to get involved. If this annoys you on a personal level, that's not a business thing. It sounds like she could be mentally ill, and it's just a different type of discrimination if you hate on her and harrass her about her hearing because she is mentally unwell and this is how she expresses that.

>>she is playing the HOH card too frequently when caught with something shes not able to get out of
If she makes a mistake that is serious, report the mistake but only the mistake. Leave her reaction to that between her and management. If management believes it's a hearing related mistake, they will put procedures in place - eventually they will either get fed up with providing equipment and finding her performance doesn't improve or they will tell her that there's nothing more they can do to support her.

>>She thinks any male staff or customers are hitting on her constantly
Not your business unless it disrupts her work. If it disrupts her work or yours, report only the way in which it is disrputing work.

>>will talk behind peoples back and undermine them and create stories to create drama
If you know specific examples of things that have been said, and they are more than just petty silliness, report those things and ask for them to be dealt with because you don't want the business to be undermined and that you are entitled to a respectful workplace. If you don't know for sure what's happened, stay out of it - being involved in "he said-she said" just inflates the drama, and if that's what she wanted then you are stoking her fire.

>>does not give me straight answers to her hearing test
She doesn't owe you answers, and she might not know them. Some people go to the doctor with a very "They'll tell me what I need to know" attitude and just aren't interested in the specifics. Always amazed at some of my family members who go in for an operation because "the doctor said I needed it" and actually have no clue what they have or what will happen!!

>>She is messed up in the head
If she's "messed up in the head" then she's not lying on purpose.

>>She just needs a reality check
Is that a clinical prognosis?

Stick to the facts, keep a professional distance, work with her when needed and otherwise leave her alone. You do nobody any good stewing over it, and it could certainly be bullying if you keep going on at her about it. If you think she has a mental illness for which she might need help then maybe you can edge her towards a service, say if your workplace offers some therapy for employee stress, tell management you think she is having a hard time and they might recommend she speak with them. Remember that you are not the deaf police. This could be a ruse to extract an unfair dismissal settlement by coming along and being a terrible employee and then saying she got fired for being deaf, that kind of thing happens. Or she could just be very unwell in her mind. How would you feel if your harassing her about her hearing test results was a contributory factor to her deciding to hang herself?
 
@RoseRodent

She is pulling valuable support staff out of our rotation dealing with her made up stories and it is frankly affecting me on a professional level creating drama at the workplace trying to pit two staff against each other. I am the mediator and repair her path of destruction and quell the waves she causes with the customers other staff. We now have to compare notes/texts to get accounts straight. She is messed up in the head no doubts about it she is telling people she is HOH then tells me she is not the next time it comes up she says shes deaf I asked if she wanted to be on deaf league for a sport so she could build up a better rapport amongst us however she said in front of me she NEVER took a hearing test. I am not here to start crap and understand she needs the help as it is MY workplace and my work being sucked into her vortex. And her playing the HOH card too often overhearing personal converstation. She is toxic to the workplace and I have been tolerant up to this point on it I'm just tired of fixing it and wondering what crap she will start everyday when I come to work.
 
How do other coworkers feel about this person , do they have the same complaints as you? If you're the only one that feel this way about the woman people may think it's
you that is the problem . You need to be really careful about you say about a coworker you could sues for slander .
 
The fact that she may be abusing disability services (the VP part)- I'd bring that up to HR. The fact that it sounds like this person is creating a hostile environment.. then yes one should do something about it... maybe get a small group of the deaf and others who are affected and meet with the manager/team lead/supervisor to see if something can be resolved. At least make the 'boss' above you aware.
 
whatdidyousay! said:
How do other coworkers feel about this person , do they have the same complaints as you? If you're the only one that feel this way about the woman people may think it's
you that is the problem . You need to be really careful about you say about a coworker you could sues for slander .
Click to expand...

Read what I wrote I am the mediator and have been dealing making things good for other staff and they and I have been on the same page. I am not the only one. I am not worried one bit about slander as everything I have documented on texts and documentation of incident reports.
 
DeafDucky said:
The fact that she may be abusing disability services (the VP part)- I'd bring that up to HR. The fact that it sounds like this person is creating a hostile environment.. then yes one should do something about it... maybe get a small group of the deaf and others who are affected and meet with the manager/team lead/supervisor to see if something can be resolved. At least make the 'boss' above you aware.
Click to expand...

That's the problem. The upper level management is just a joke too

We do not have VP at work. She stated she had VP and I asked her years ago if she wanted help getting it hooked up she said no she didn't need it so I don't know how she got it but just kind of having to deal with this coworker and fill out all of the incident reports its just another BS filled day at work.

Thank you! Pretty much appericated as I forgot how annoying some people on AD are on here
 
DeafDucky said:
Eeesh... Hmm.. not sure where to go if even the Top Dog is not a great way to go... Maybe she will screw up enough to get her butt fired. Surprised she hasn't yet by now...
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We have people who don't speak english here, we have social rejects (hygiene issues) here and a staff that has been under investigation so many times for abuse and finally quit on her own we don't have good staff left many of us left over the years. I am leaving this place when the money comes in I'm flying this ship that's sinking as fast....
 
MotionInSilver said:
Read what I wrote I am the mediator and have been dealing making things good for other staff and they and I have been on the same page. I am not the only one. I am not worried one bit about slander as everything I have documented on texts and documentation of incident reports.
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I know you're the mediator , I was wondering how other people feel about this person . People do have personality conflict at work so I was trying to find if could be part of the problem too.
 
whatdidyousay! said:
I know you're the mediator , I was wondering how other people feel about this person . People do have personality conflict at work so I was trying to find if could be part of the problem too.
Click to expand...

Yeah different personalities for all coworkers cant argue with that. Its not a personality conflict for sure she is making up stories about what a staff said then goes to a different staff and twists the information pissing off the second staff who goes to the first staff and starts an argument between them or lying to the supervisors who in turn takes it out on staff and makes staff upset with them I have to backtrack and smooth it over so everyone can focus on their real work. A time wasting thing and mentally draining for me at times. But hey its a job I'm not going to stick forever as 12 years is too long for me and am leaving as soon I figure out what to do with my life lol
 
MotionInSilver said:
I am in a very weird and uncomfortable situation. This is about the workplace. And someone faking being deaf.

I have a coworker who is actually hearing and pretends she is deaf to her own benefit. Something was not right with her. She hears a lot better than most of the hearing staff and that speaks volumes. I am very profound deaf and a lot of hearing/other HOH/deaf coworkers have questioned her validity of being deaf.... She is proficent in sign language however will talk behind peoples back and undermine them and create stories to create drama. She has been caught in a series of lies. She is messed up in the head does not give me straight answers to her hearing test and give others different answer every time and it is starting to piss me off that she is playing the HOH card too frequently when caught with something shes not able to get out of. She thinks any male staff or customers are hitting on her constantly. She just needs a reality check but I do not want to start something that I get blammed for but what can I do as a fellow coworker seeing someone taking advantage of the system. She even has managed to get a VP and has never used it because she uses the phone perfectly any kind of phone she hears a mouses fart from upstairs....that's how creepy it is getting.
Click to expand...
How do you know her hearing status if you are not her audiologist?
 
Firstly, reread what I wrote. Teacher are you not?

Second, she admitted at one point to me she never took a hearing test

Third she does not wear hearing aids at all and can hear far better than a lot of hearing staff on noises and has no issues talking on the phone without hearing aids even outperforms hearing staff in talking on the crappy phones

Fourth she can hear anything going on in another room that a hearing staff did not catch

Fifth she makes up stories that has been proven untrue numerous of times. We have documentation and incident reports.

I'm not here to argue about what the facts are. She has a mental illness and needs the help my frustration mostly stems from her faking a disability and having the advantage over others using that card. I am not here to even argue over something I have stated so many times. She is faking it. Ive worked long enough with her to know and all staff knows it too as we have discussed this but is at loss what to do to get her to stop abusing the system.
 
MotionInSilver said:
Firstly, reread what I wrote. Teacher are you not?

Second, she admitted at one point to me she never took a hearing test

Third she does not wear hearing aids at all and can hear far better than a lot of hearing staff on noises and has no issues talking on the phone without hearing aids even outperforms hearing staff in talking on the crappy phones

Fourth she can hear anything going on in another room that a hearing staff did not catch

Fifth she makes up stories that has been proven untrue numerous of times. We have documentation and incident reports.

I'm not here to argue about what the facts are. She has a mental illness and needs the help my frustration mostly stems from her faking a disability and having the advantage over others using that card. I am not here to even argue over something I have stated so many times. She is faking it. Ive worked long enough with her to know and all staff knows it too as we have discussed this but is at loss what to do to get her to stop abusing the system.
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Again, you are assuming what she can and cannot hear. How can you judge that? I know people with all levels of hearing loss who choose not to wear hearing aids, and I know many with moderate or greater losses who can talk on the telephone. You are judging from an outside perspective and you have no information on which to judge. She could have auditory neuropathy (which would cause a fluctuating loss and could result in super-hearing in some frequencies or at some times). She could have central auditory processing disorder which would allow her to hear sounds but not always process language.

It is best to refrain from judging when you do not have the whole story.
 
We're hearing only one side of the story here , so it's hard for me to made any judgment on the other person , we also don't know what is going on in the other person life .
She could be under a lot of stress herself .
 
Teacherofthedeaf said:
Again, you are assuming what she can and cannot hear. How can you judge that? I know people with all levels of hearing loss who choose not to wear hearing aids, and I know many with moderate or greater losses who can talk on the telephone. You are judging from an outside perspective and you have no information on which to judge. She could have auditory neuropathy (which would cause a fluctuating loss and could result in super-hearing in some frequencies or at some times). She could have central auditory processing disorder which would allow her to hear sounds but not always process language.

It is best to refrain from judging when you do not have the whole story.
Click to expand...

Firstly ive said it 2x now. She has admitted she has NEVER took a hearing test. She interprets for us deaf staff often. She is an awesome signer don't get me wrong. If she has a APD or a CNS that is totally fine. She does not misinterpret anything for us word for word. She is asked to interpret the hospital situations between the customer at the hospital all of the time so you can defend her for all you want you are not reading what ive been saying. Apparently anyone can say theyre deaf and we cant question it. Have a good day this converstation between you and I are done.
 
By the way TOD hearing staff themselves have even asked if she was really deaf. We have various HOH staff from the high end to severe profound like me. Every single one of us over time have questioned it as it never made sense how she could hear some stuff and the other staff who has no hearing loss could not hear it in the same room hearing staff were the FIRST ones to make that observation. She also has other odd things however my focal point of the thread....nothing we can do about it just keep the peace and I'm outta here like some said a toxic workplace
 
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