So, it's official, I lost my civil service job of 19 years today, thanks to my newly diagnosed HM (Nov '23). Employers have no issue with the quality, quantity, or thoroughness of my work but the independent medical exam/fitness for duty exam they ordered says that while I can perform the functions of my job without a problem I can't perform them in the field or in an office setting (in other words, only remotely). Unfortunately because I'm a supervisor they are not willing to consider just letting me work from home.

What good is filling out an ADA request if they aren't willing to do what the medically trained Doctor initially recommended, working from home for 6 months and then be re-evaluated? And wait out the six months for me to be re-evaluated? They did good with making in-office accomodations but as far as my doctors recommendation, they waited an entire 2 months, that's just barely enough time for the meds to START working! Let alone enough time to see significant improvement. Now I've lost my family's sole source of income, my health insurance, my dignity, and my independence. I hate this disease. Just a vent, not sure that I really had a question.

UPDATE/CLARIFICATION:

I probably should have mentioned, their main thing was my inability to do field work, something not in my job description by the way, because of a budgeted project I had planned for before my onset and diagnosis, and for which we had purchased two tablets. As mentioned earlier they have no issue with my abilities to do the rest of my job, didn't even mention supervisory duties this time around, just the field work.

I mentioned during our meeting that had this been for someone who was a paraplegic it would likely not have been an issue because you would not ask a paraplegic to do what he or she was no longer able to do, you would make alternate arrangements or accomodations to adjust to their needs. In this case I am a hemiplegic, intermittently yes but I am still hemiplegic at those times, therefore alternative arrangements or accommodations could and should be made that would not require me to go into the field. I am still fully capable of supporting any field crew from a remote setting. I even provided examples and suggestions. Their response was that this was changing the scope of the project and this was not the time or place to discuss it. My thought was it was exactly the time and place to discuss it if that was the primary reason they were putting me out to pasture!

The other thing was safety because of fall risk, for which I showed them that I now use a rollator when I am out in public so I have an immediate place to sit as soon as I start to experience symptoms and that my doctor has provided me with a prescription for a motorized scooter if it becomes necessary. That eliminates the fall risk. Their response, nope, still a liability.

So to sum it up...

  • They won't consider a transfer to a non-supervisory position so I can work from home full time
  • They won't consider changing the "scope" of the project to accommodate my ADA needs, even though the project hasn't yet started, beyond the purchase of the two tablets
  • They didn't approve the initial ADA request recommendation by my doctor for working from home for 6 months, to then be re-evaluated, because county policy does not permit a supervisor to work from home every day
  • They ignored the safety measures I implemented without even taking time to reconsider their decision to put me on "unpaid medical leave" (aka - fired without actually being fired, let's be realistic here)
  • Their own IME examiner says I can do my job, just not in a field or office setting but they chose to let me go instead of transferring me or making further adjustments