Employee Wants To Take Action for Co-Worker

[conuly]

DEAR HARRIETTE: My co-worker is in a wheelchair. During quarantine, our general manager sent a memo for all employees to use a back entrance to our store in order to do proper check-in before our shifts. This entrance is not handicap accessible. My co-worker asked to use an alternative entrance where he can get inside without help.

My co-worker came to me concerned for his job after being shot down by our general manager and was told he needs to use the same entrance as everyone else. I could not believe this! He is in a protected class and should be treated as such. Now I want to take action. Where do I start? -- Supportive Co-Worker

DEAR SUPPORTIVE CO-WORKER: COVID-19 has not always brought out the best in people. Your manager sounds stressed and stretched. Clearly, he is not thinking compassionately about your co-worker who cannot discard his disability simply because there is a need for change at the office.

You could go to your general manager privately and point out that this new rule makes it impossible for your co-worker to navigate entry into the building independently. Ask him to reconsider allowing your co-worker to use a wheelchair-friendly entrance.

Before you point out the legal requirement to provide access to this employee, check the rules. If this is a small business with fewer than 15 employees, the company is not required to make that accommodation. If that’s the case, appealing to the general manager’s humanity is the way to go. For more details, go to eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/your-employment-rights-individual-disability.

If your general manager refuses to allow your friend to use a different entrance, why don’t you offer to meet him each morning, if possible, to help him enter the job? Hopefully, this will be a temporary problem.

https://www.uexpress.com/sense-and-sensitivity/2020/8/26/employee-wants-to-take-action-for

Comments

[conuly]

Did Coworker actually ask LW for practical help, or was Coworker just venting while on hold with their lawyer?

Because if Coworker didn't ask LW to go to bat for them, LW shouldn't overstep here. That's not as bad as what the employer is doing, but it's also... not great.

[cereta]

Yeah, I was going to say. Because the bricks aren't going to fall on LW if this goes badly. They're going to fall on Coworker.

(BTW, I noticed that Arcamax solved people's dislike of the switch to Facebook for comments instead of Disqus by eliminating comments altogether. Bold move.)

[conuly]

TBH, given what passes for "moderation" on most sites it's probably for the best.

[ambyr]

Now I want to take action. Where do I start?

By asking your coworker what he'd like you to do. Was that so hard?

[watersword]

First, ask your coworker what he wants. Second, don't write to Harriette, write to Ask A Manager. Third, do what your coworker asks you to do.

[delight]

I'm glad I wasn't the only one whose first reaction was "wait, wrong column." Especially since Allison tends to post things within 48 hours (in my experience) and Harriette can take a long long time.

[colorwheel]

First, ask your coworker what he wants. Second, don't write to Harriette, write to Ask A Manager. Third, do what your coworker asks you to do.

and, LW, your pre-list to-do item is to stop saying someone is "is in a wheelchair" and start saying someone "uses a wheelchair."

[conuly]

At least they didn't say "wheelchair bound", which I still see at least twice a month.

[shirou]

Can you explain this? I understand that terms like "wheelchair bound" or "confined to a wheelchair" imply the chair is limiting, when in fact it offers people with mobility issues opportunities they might not otherwise have. By contrast, "is in a wheelchair" seems as neutral as "uses a wheelchair." I do not understand why you find it objectionable and would like to.

[colorwheel]

sure thing. caveat, i'm not a wheelchair user myself, but from my friends who are:

"being in a wheelchair" sounds passive. it sounds like a state of being. whereas using a wheelchair is active, emphasizing both the person's agency and the fact the wheelchair is a tool.

also, "being in a wheelchair" sounds a bit permanent -- i mean permanent throughout the day, or day-to-day -- rather than the reality, which is that even most people who use their chair most of the time probably have some times in the day when they don't use it. possible examples are: in bed, in the shower, sitting on a couch, etc.