Comments on: Discrimination due to Epilepsy…or a Different Turn of Events? http://www.brainthunders.com/new-posts/discrimination-due-to-epilepsy-or-a-different-turn-of-events/ Sat, 31 Dec 2011 06:33:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: Jeremy http://www.brainthunders.com/new-posts/discrimination-due-to-epilepsy-or-a-different-turn-of-events/comment-page-1/#comment-9535 Jeremy Wed, 05 Oct 2011 23:19:09 +0000 http://www.brainthunders.com/?p=658#comment-9535 I know all too well about losing a job to epilepsy. In my case it was not only a job but a career that I absolutely loved. I was a firefighter at the time I was diagnosed and had been for 8 years. I had decided right out of high school that this was the career path I was meant to take. When I was diagnosed it was about 1 month to the day after my 28th birthday. I had never had a seizure before and there was no history of epilepsy in my family. I reported to work at the firehouse for my 24 hour shift, shortly after arriving at the station I had a grand mal seizure, causing me to fall, strike my head and cause a moderate concussion. At this point I was put on leave until things got figured out. Shortly after I was cleared and allowed to return to work in a limited capacity. I was a fire apparatus driver at the time. I was allowed to operate the fire truck on fires, however, for obvious reasons, I was not allowed to enter burning buildings. Eventually I was given the opportunity to accept a position as fire prevention officer/captain. I jumped at this chance since I had all the training necessary to do the job and I could still keep a job at the firehouse. I did not want to endanger the lives of my co-workers either. I held this position for roughly 3 years. During my time in this position I had a couple seizures while I was in my office, no major problems suffered other than a couple days off work until I was cleared to return by my neurologist. Then there came a day in August of 2005 when I had taken my lunch break and arranged a ride with a family member to pick up my personal vehicle. Unfortunately on my way home from this "quick" errand I had to run, I suffered a seizure while driving home and ended up in a single-vehicle collision. After the collision the fire chief as well as the fire marshal showed up at the hospital to make sure I was okay. They told me not to worry about anything and to just make sure I was okay, they would see me when I got back to work. When I went back to work about a week later, I was met by the fire chief who told me that I was being placed on paid administrative leave while me status was being reviewed. I didnt understand. I had a meeting with the fire chief, fire marshal and a representative of the firefighters union that I belonged to. At that time I was told that I was being disciplined for missing an appointment because of my crash. I was told to report back to the fire station the next week to meet with the HR rep from the City as well as the fire marshal and the fire chief, I requested that I also have a representative from the union there as well. The meeting was held and I was handed a letter from the HR rep advising me that I was being placed on 1 week of non-paid administrative leave and was told I needed to sign a paper. As soon as I signed the paper, even though I disagreed with the disciplinary action since it was something out of my control, I was handed a second letter stating that effective the day on which my administrative leave was up, that my employement with the City was being terminated because it was costing the City too much money in overtime costs when I was off work. I immediately contacted a lawyer, the ADA and the Epilepsy Foundation for assistance. All of which thought I had a great case. After spending $2,000 in attorney's fees, my lawyer advised me that they had to take themselves off the case and I would need to find another attorney if I intended to persue the matter. I did not have the financial ability to take on a City and I could not find a lawyer to take the case pro bono. As a result I did not get to continue my job in the fire service and ended up taking another job that paid me 50% less than what I had been making. I have learned a lot from this experience. I still miss my job as a firefighter and working in that career field. I still remain friends with those I worked with. In the end I found out that part of the problems started because the fire marshal did not like the way I was doing things, however he never brought this to my attention previously. All I can say to those out there in similar situations is to be very careful with your employers. I know all too well about losing a job to epilepsy. In my case it was not only a job but a career that I absolutely loved. I was a firefighter at the time I was diagnosed and had been for 8 years. I had decided right out of high school that this was the career path I was meant to take.
When I was diagnosed it was about 1 month to the day after my 28th birthday. I had never had a seizure before and there was no history of epilepsy in my family. I reported to work at the firehouse for my 24 hour shift, shortly after arriving at the station I had a grand mal seizure, causing me to fall, strike my head and cause a moderate concussion. At this point I was put on leave until things got figured out. Shortly after I was cleared and allowed to return to work in a limited capacity. I was a fire apparatus driver at the time. I was allowed to operate the fire truck on fires, however, for obvious reasons, I was not allowed to enter burning buildings. Eventually I was given the opportunity to accept a position as fire prevention officer/captain. I jumped at this chance since I had all the training necessary to do the job and I could still keep a job at the firehouse. I did not want to endanger the lives of my co-workers either. I held this position for roughly 3 years. During my time in this position I had a couple seizures while I was in my office, no major problems suffered other than a couple days off work until I was cleared to return by my neurologist.
Then there came a day in August of 2005 when I had taken my lunch break and arranged a ride with a family member to pick up my personal vehicle. Unfortunately on my way home from this “quick” errand I had to run, I suffered a seizure while driving home and ended up in a single-vehicle collision.
After the collision the fire chief as well as the fire marshal showed up at the hospital to make sure I was okay. They told me not to worry about anything and to just make sure I was okay, they would see me when I got back to work. When I went back to work about a week later, I was met by the fire chief who told me that I was being placed on paid administrative leave while me status was being reviewed. I didnt understand. I had a meeting with the fire chief, fire marshal and a representative of the firefighters union that I belonged to. At that time I was told that I was being disciplined for missing an appointment because of my crash. I was told to report back to the fire station the next week to meet with the HR rep from the City as well as the fire marshal and the fire chief, I requested that I also have a representative from the union there as well.
The meeting was held and I was handed a letter from the HR rep advising me that I was being placed on 1 week of non-paid administrative leave and was told I needed to sign a paper. As soon as I signed the paper, even though I disagreed with the disciplinary action since it was something out of my control, I was handed a second letter stating that effective the day on which my administrative leave was up, that my employement with the City was being terminated because it was costing the City too much money in overtime costs when I was off work.
I immediately contacted a lawyer, the ADA and the Epilepsy Foundation for assistance. All of which thought I had a great case. After spending $2,000 in attorney’s fees, my lawyer advised me that they had to take themselves off the case and I would need to find another attorney if I intended to persue the matter. I did not have the financial ability to take on a City and I could not find a lawyer to take the case pro bono.
As a result I did not get to continue my job in the fire service and ended up taking another job that paid me 50% less than what I had been making.
I have learned a lot from this experience. I still miss my job as a firefighter and working in that career field. I still remain friends with those I worked with. In the end I found out that part of the problems started because the fire marshal did not like the way I was doing things, however he never brought this to my attention previously.
All I can say to those out there in similar situations is to be very careful with your employers.

]]> By: Personal Care 101 http://www.brainthunders.com/new-posts/discrimination-due-to-epilepsy-or-a-different-turn-of-events/comment-page-1/#comment-458 Personal Care 101 Sat, 03 Jul 2010 08:02:37 +0000 http://www.brainthunders.com/?p=658#comment-458 <strong>Discrimination due to Epilepsy?or a Different Turn of Events?-...</strong> I found your entry interesting do I've added a Trackback to it on my weblog :)... Discrimination due to Epilepsy?or a Different Turn of Events?-…

I found your entry interesting do I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog :) …

]]> By: ultrasound technician http://www.brainthunders.com/new-posts/discrimination-due-to-epilepsy-or-a-different-turn-of-events/comment-page-1/#comment-439 ultrasound technician Tue, 29 Jun 2010 11:51:47 +0000 http://www.brainthunders.com/?p=658#comment-439 Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher! Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!

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