Have you faced discrimination? (Discrimination is alive and well)

[an anarchist]

I wanted to make a thread where we can share our stories where we have faced discrimination. The point is awareness. People think discrimination is a thing of the past, but it is not. Progress is still necessary.

I am severely mentally ill and was discriminated against at my former place of employment because of it. I was having a medical emergency and when I told the boss I was going to bring in a doctor’s note, she laughed and scoffed at me. She told me I couldn’t take time off. That’s discrimination. I was having a medical emergency due to my mental illness and she denied me my earned sick hours. I literally had to quit right then and there because of my medical emergency. That is not to mention the retaliation they did after I quit, but I want to focus on the discrimination aspect.

They deemed me not worthy of my sick leave and withheld it. They laughed at me when I was experiencing a medical emergency. Discrimination, yes? I am taking it to court.

What about you? Have you been discriminated against in some way due to race, religion, creed, nationality, political preference, etc.?

Discrimination is alive and well.

 

[JustGeorge]

I am having trouble trying to have my situation with my son's mental health taken seriously. I think part of this is due to general oddities.

You all can't see me, but I come across as pretty weird in the real world. My appearance is only a small part of it; I communicate oddly. I'm stoic and flat. I'm used to living on a battlefield, and my eyes dart around, constantly looking for the next disaster. I unnerve people. I appear mentally ill. I am not.

I know I'm being written off as an exaggerator, and a nut. I know this case is an exceptional one. Each time I say this, I am firmly told "no, it is not". The therapists who worked with him have told me it is, the school has said it is, but because it is me, in all my eccentric glory, presenting it, I won't be heard.

A minor discrimination that has always irked me. I've heard it out of the mouths of both men and women. "As a woman, you want/think/feel..." How the hell do you know what I want/think/feel?

 

[Secret Chief]

Both of your anecdotes are disgraceful.

 

[Secret Chief]

I was having a medical emergency and when I told the boss I was going to bring in a doctor’s note, she laughed and scoffed at me. She told me I couldn’t take time off.

I hope I'm right in saying that this couldn't happen in the UK. If an employer tried to pull that stunt a tribunal would kick their **** into next week.

 

[an anarchist]

I hope I'm right in saying that this couldn't happen in the UK. If an employer tried to pull that stunt a tribunal would kick their **** into next week.

Well I’ll see how the American court system handles it. My aunt is a paralegal and something of an expert in suing companies, so that’s the route we are taking. Personally, I’d rather burn the establishment down, but I have to abide by society’s rules. My former employer broke those rules, so I am gonna use the rules against them in court.

 

[an anarchist]

Well I’ll see how the American court system handles it. My aunt is a paralegal and something of an expert in suing companies, so that’s the route we are taking. Personally, I’d rather burn the establishment down, but I have to abide by society’s rules. My former employer broke those rules, so I am gonna use the rules against them in court.

I’ll tell you one thing though, the process to get justice ain’t speedy.

 

[Secret Chief]

Well I’ll see how the American court system handles it. My aunt is a paralegal and something of an expert in suing companies, so that’s the route we are taking. Personally, I’d rather burn the establishment down, but I have to abide by society’s rules. My former employer broke those rules, so I am gonna use the rules against them in court.

Best of luck.

 

[HonestJoe]

I hope I'm right in saying that this couldn't happen in the UK. If an employer tried to pull that stunt a tribunal would kick their **** into next week.

It can and does unfortunately. The UK employment laws and regulations are generally better than in the US, but they still require the employee to have the knowledge and ability to bring a complaint in the first place.

 

[Secret Chief]

It can and does unfortunately. The UK employment laws and regulations are generally better than in the US, but they still require the employee to have the knowledge and ability to bring a complaint in the first place.

I wouldn't think an employer can choose to ignore a doctor's sick note? Plus we have ACAS, CAB and (depending on the sector) decent unions. I was a union rep at a previous employer and the employer played by the rules.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I wanted to make a thread where we can share our stories where we have faced discrimination. The point is awareness. People think discrimination is a thing of the past, but it is not. Progress is still necessary.

I am severely mentally ill and was discriminated against at my former place of employment because of it. I was having a medical emergency and when I told the boss I was going to bring in a doctor’s note, she laughed and scoffed at me. She told me I couldn’t take time off. That’s discrimination. I was having a medical emergency due to my mental illness and she denied me my earned sick hours. I literally had to quit right then and there because of my medical emergency. That is not to mention the retaliation they did after I quit, but I want to focus on the discrimination aspect.

They deemed me not worthy of my sick leave and withheld it. They laughed at me when I was experiencing a medical emergency. Discrimination, yes? I am taking it to court.

What about you? Have you been discriminated against in some way due to race, religion, creed, nationality, political preference, etc.?

Discrimination is alive and well.

I hope quitting will not result in complications. I'd rather had the employer fire me and go to court on the basis that you were unlawfully terminated from your job.

 

[an anarchist]

I hope quitting will not result in complications. I'd rather had the employer fire me and go to court on the basis that you were unlawfully terminated from your job.

Yea I think the boss was trying to goad me into quitting before I brought in the doctors note and got my 40 hours of sick leave. It’s not gonna protect her like she thinks it will though. She violated HIPPA at the very least during our conversation where she denied me time off.

 

[an anarchist]

I wouldn't think an employer can choose to ignore a doctor's sick note? Plus we have ACAS, CAB and (depending on the sector) decent unions. I was a union rep at a previous employer and the employer played by the rules.

Unions? What are those???
…
I’m joking. But I think I’ll drop dead of a heart attack before restaurant workers get unionized in my part of the country.

 

[an anarchist]

Unions? What are those???
…
I’m joking. But I think I’ll drop dead of a heart attack before restaurant workers get unionized in my part of the country.

Well I’m looking into it, I guess there are unions for us down here. None of us know about them though LOL and I’m sure that is calculated.

 

[Spice]

I wanted to make a thread where we can share our stories where we have faced discrimination. The point is awareness. People think discrimination is a thing of the past, but it is not. Progress is still necessary.

I am severely mentally ill and was discriminated against at my former place of employment because of it. I was having a medical emergency and when I told the boss I was going to bring in a doctor’s note, she laughed and scoffed at me. She told me I couldn’t take time off. That’s discrimination. I was having a medical emergency due to my mental illness and she denied me my earned sick hours. I literally had to quit right then and there because of my medical emergency. That is not to mention the retaliation they did after I quit, but I want to focus on the discrimination aspect.

They deemed me not worthy of my sick leave and withheld it. They laughed at me when I was experiencing a medical emergency. Discrimination, yes? I am taking it to court.

What about you? Have you been discriminated against in some way due to race, religion, creed, nationality, political preference, etc.?

Discrimination is alive and well.

Sure! Many times for many different reasons, some actually opposites of each other. Some were merely irritating hiccups, and some devastating unfair blows. But, that's life. Sometimes I felt like fighting, and sometimes not. What I learned through it all was not to allow other's thoughts and opinions define me. However, it still grates to be brushed aside because of my age, my gender, my race, my residency, my economic status, or my lack of higher education. But all that sometimes fuels a great big ole SURPRISE, which can be fun.

 

[Secret Chief]

Well I’m looking into it, I guess there are unions for us down here. None of us know about them though LOL and I’m sure that is calculated.

Maybe they can advise if nothing else? I would certainly be a member.

 

[ChristineM]

I'm a white woman who has been spit at, jostled and even beaten to the ground because i went out with a black guy.

Racial discrimination is still prevalent in the UK, one of several reasons i got out of there.

Regarding your treatment by your former employer, disgusting, @Secret Chief is correct in what he says. I hope you are able to sue the **** of you ex boss

 

[HonestJoe]

I wouldn't think an employer can choose to ignore a doctor's sick note? Plus we have ACAS, CAB and (depending on the sector) decent unions. I was a union rep at a previous employer and the employer played by the rules.

Well, a doctors note isn't the be-all and end-all a lot of people assume, but clearly they shouldn't be ignored. That is the case in the US as well though, and the OP suggests it can still happen there too.

Again, we generally have better employment laws, protections and processes compared to the US but we shouldn't pretend that means employers (or employees) won't break the laws or regulations or that a lot of employees will have a much harder time seeking and finding the support they would need, especially at the lower-paid end of the scale where they probably need it most.

 

[Secret Chief]

Well, a doctors note isn't the be-all and end-all a lot of people assume, but clearly they shouldn't be ignored. That is the case in the US as well though, and the OP suggests it can still happen there too.

Again, we generally have better employment laws, protections and processes compared to the US but we shouldn't pretend that means employers (or employees) won't break the laws or regulations or that a lot of employees will have a much harder time seeking and finding the support they would need, especially at the lower-paid end of the scale where they probably need it most.

Sure. I worked for a company that prepared salary reports in cases of loss of work (for various reasons). I've been in tribunals where employers claimed that black was white.

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

I've had my share of discrimination.

I have a foreign name. Back when I was looking for a job after I finished school, it sure gave me problems landing interviews. I couldn't prove it though, but there were a bunch of us who graduated that year and naturally we all gravitated to the same job openings. Our resumé was as good as identical. Yet they got invited and I wasn't.

On one of the job interviews that I did get, I showed up with my long rock and roll hair. Not messy or anything; neatly in a tail. We did the interview, which went well imo, and then there was a technical test. I completely nailed that. I finished first and had a 10 out of 10. The other guy, who got the job, only scored 6 out of 10 and took longer then me. Again nothing particular about the resumé that stood out as opposed to mine. In all aspects I surely was the better candidate. But the look I got upon showing up with long hair, was telling. Again something that is impossible to prove.

On the interview where I actually got the job, I was called for in the final round where I met the CEO. He was kind of arrogant to me, telling me that "play time was over" and that I was about to become an "employee" and that I was no longer a "student". I was wondering what that stupid speech was about and then the question came, which put the hole thing in perspective: "So, are you going to cut your hair?" It was rather clear that the question was synonymous with "do you want the job?". Naive and stupid as I was, I said yes and cut my hair. Only to not visit a barber shop again for the next 10 years and grew it back even longer then it ever was, lol


On another occasion I was scouting an office to rent for our company. The owner was there showing us around (me and one of my partners). When she asked for our names and phone numbers, she asked where my name comes from. I told her my ancestry on my dad's side was in Kosovo / Albania. She wrote that down and circled it. My partner was shocked (having never experienced such a thing) and asked here, a bit aggressively, what the circle was about and why such information would be important enough to even write it down in the first place, when all she required and asked for was contact information. We did get to rent the office though, so no harm done, but it was a bit of a cringe moment.


I can't complain though, and I don't. Such things are childsplay compared to the far more brutal discrimination other people have to deal with.
I can laugh about it now but at the time it didn't feel great.

If today they would treat me like that, I would just get up and leave. I wouldn't want to work in such an environment anymore any way.
But I also realize I'm in the luxurious position of being able to afford taking such a stance. Given my skillset and experience, I know I will not have any problems landing a job within the month if I wanted to.

I feel very sorry for people who have to deal with discrimination and who can't afford to simply get up and leave in response. I can relate what it feels like to be rejected for things as trivial as ethnicity, your name, your looks, etc.

 

[Stonetree]

I wanted to make a thread where we can share our stories where we have faced discrimination. The point is awareness. People think discrimination is a thing of the past, but it is not. Progress is still necessary.

I am severely mentally ill and was discriminated against at my former place of employment because of it. I was having a medical emergency and when I told the boss I was going to bring in a doctor’s note, she laughed and scoffed at me. She told me I couldn’t take time off. That’s discrimination. I was having a medical emergency due to my mental illness and she denied me my earned sick hours. I literally had to quit right then and there because of my medical emergency. That is not to mention the retaliation they did after I quit, but I want to focus on the discrimination aspect.

They deemed me not worthy of my sick leave and withheld it. They laughed at me when I was experiencing a medical emergency. Discrimination, yes? I am taking it to court.

What about you? Have you been discriminated against in some way due to race, religion, creed, nationality, political preference, etc.?

Discrimination is alive and well.

There are a few Golden Rules when presenting a
grievance or asking for relief from employment duties.
Be respectful and never refuse to work. State that you want to work
but this or that is preventing you from safely performing your duties.
(Words matter. Be able to tell the truth, especially in a courtroom.)