Human Resource Blog

Resigning Due to a Disability

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I worked for a non-profit church. I worked there for approx. 6 years part and full time. My son died of cancer when he was 5, in November 2004. I was hired for the office that following January. I was also working in the church’s kitchen. However, three years later, I started to have symptoms like heart racing, unable to relax, hypervigilant, irritable, unapproachable, etc. All of those traits were not like me, therefore, I went to my primary doctor to see if he knew what was wrong. He sent me to a Cardiologist to have echo and stress tests. I passed both. I also went to another doctor for a second opinion. Both said, without communicating with each other, that I have unresolved issues from my son passing away. During all of this, I kept my employer up to date on everything. I was also given antidepressants and antianxiety medication. Then, I was seen every two weeks by my primary Dr for medication management. Again, my employer was always updated. Eventually, my primary suggested counseling and that I see a psychiatrist. After seeing the psychiatrist, I found out I had post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), severe major depressive disorder, social disorder, panic attacks along with agoraphobia. Again, my employer was updated about my new founded disability as they noticed a change too. Once I found all this out, I took a month leave. Afterwards, I returned and everything that was normally on my desk was gone and one of my bosses said I no longer have my original job.
This is not allowable unless the personnel committee is notified. So I followed the chain of command and notified the personnel committee. The next day, I was place on paid Administrative leave since I had a problem and contacted personnel. This committee is there for employees as a checks and balance system. No one has ever been placed on paid Administrative leave because they contacted personel. When I return, I met with the employer and Personnel Chairperson. My employer, knowing the disability and difficulty I was encountering, told me I HAD to be the old person I used to be before my son died. And that was a happy go lucky person or things were gonna be tough for me. Then he proceeded to tell me about the severance package they put together and said I could take that instead. Of course, I took the severance package and resigned as I felt as if I was backed into a corner and no adjustments were going to be made to help me be a successful employee with a disability. However, I know I was forced to resign due to my disability and my employer knew I could not be the same person I used to be before my 5 year old son died. That is an impossible thing to ask of any individual and that is why I feel I had no choice but to resign and take the severance package as they certainly were clear they didn’t want to put up with me now that I had/have a major disability. Also, they never offered any other job that may have suited me better since my PTSD was so severe either. My question is very basic and simple. Was this legal?

Maybe not. Employers with more than 15 workers are covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. The ADA requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for employees with a disability. While ordinary grief is not a disability, PTSD, major depression, panic attacks or Agoraphobia – or a combination of two or more – may very well be a disability under the EEOC definition.

Under ADA, employees need to request accommodations to their disability – employers are not expected to guess what the employee requires. Also under ADA, the employee must be able to carry out his or her main duties with the accommodation. So if your condition resulted in poor performance, even with accommodation, the employer would not be requried to keep you on.

A few states have laws that extend protection to employees of smaller organizations. Considering that the employer is a church, it would be great if they were a little more compassionate. Unfortunately, there is no law that requires them to be.