I am an employee of home depot and am currently on LOA due to severe back pain.
In nov I filled with the eeoc against HD for charges of retailiation, discrimination (I am Bi-polar) and sexual harrassment. Lets hit the sexual harrassment first.
A man I work with comes to work drunk more often than not and in a foul mood. He is very prejudice and I had to listen to his nasty comments about our hispanic customers. I complained to no avail, I was told to grow up, handle it myself be a team player. All this by management. When I returned to work after surgery he said" with all the the surgeries you've had I am suprised they did't sew your p*y shut". Again I was told to handle it.
I was harrassed about time off under the FMLA, doctors notes and reasonable accomodations. I was written up and threatened that I would be fired if I left work when I had a panic attack one day. I needed to go home so I could take my medication. I was told to get over it and that it was all in my head. I was constatly told that I was being overly parinoid, that being bi-polar just about paranoia.
When I complained to the company hotline nothing was done all that happened was the harrassment about my disability got worse. I was called stupid and an idiot by a certain manager when I asked her to supervise a conversation with my dept head over a dispute about my days off to have visitation with my children.
I and my job coach asked that I be given an accomodation of light duty and/or a position in another department, however I was denied and told it was aqainst HD policy to grant either one and that I could not return to work until I was 100% better. This was folowing major surgery.
I had to have three surgeries within a year to try to relieve the pain in my back. When i returned to work after the 2nd one (the first was a hysterectomy, the 2nd was exploratory surgery on my kidneys and i had to have my gallbladder removed two days later) my department head gave me an assignment to make sure the paint aisle was fully stocked and clean everyday.
I am the only girl in the paint dept. The rest are guys I was assigneed the paint aisle alone whereas the 2 other aisles were to be maintained by the men in the department, there are 8 of them. This was due to the fact that I called and tried to get someone from the company to investigate the way I was being treated.
When I hurt my back 2 weeks after having returned to work from the 2nd surgery I was told if I left I would be fired. (I had picked up a 5 gal drum of paint and fell to my knees because the pain was so excrutiating) No report was ever made about this incident. That was the last day I worked. I have been on leave since Oct 15.
When told I needed to come in for a meeting to disscuss my employeement I requested the presence of my job coach. It was a resonable accomodation however I was denied I was told that it was against company policy to have anyone present with me. I was told over and over by them to quit, I said no.
I should be recieving longterm disability but was denied saying my condition isn't serious. I can't stand sit or walk for any length of time without pain and I just had to have surgery done on my back to try to relieve my pain. So I still am considered disabled by my DR. I was found to have degenerative disc disease and my back will never be the same yet I kept on trying to work to prove the allegations wrong that I was faking it.
Now how has this affected me mentally? I struggle with severe deppression everyday of my life. Why did i stay? Because the courts said I had to have a job to see my girls (they live with my mom you may remember I earlier made refernce to that) and I felt I had to keep trying for them.
I tried to committ suicide several times because I felt so hopeless helpless and in so much pain that I wanted to die. And yes my dept head knew about and capitalized on that. Was accussed of faking my injury to get out of work this from my dept head to other employees.
I feel I was humiliated, embarassed in front of peers, harrassed, ridiculed, discriminated against and treated totally unfairly by the uncaring coldhearted treatment I unjustly recieved by the "Home Depot Management Team".
Michelle
phx, Arizona
U.S.A.
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