Dismissed from multiple jobs due to medical symptoms

[Rob Banks]

I have a medical condition and I have been exhibiting symptoms for almost a year now (nausea and dry heaving every day), and now, because of the coronavirus, I've been dismissed from 2 different jobs. I work for a temp agency and they told me they would not be calling me for future jobs.

This is entirely due to my symptoms. Prior to the pandemic, I had no problem working for this agency.

I have seen multiple doctors and specialists and can provide proof. I can also provide proof of a negative COVID test, but I was told it wouldn't do any good because they simply are not allowing anyone with any symptoms to work because it scares the other employees.

I was told by an attorney that I need to wait 6 months before I can file for disability, and that I might not even qualify because I have not held a steady full-time job anytime recently.

Any legal experts here know if that is accurate? Is it possible that any anti-discrimination and/or anti-wrongful-termination laws are being broken here? I am in the U.S.

 

[redpillage]

IANAL but that sounds like a high probability discrimination lawsuit to me. Talk to a lawyer. If you've got a good chance of winning he may even do it pro-bono. I take it you have your correspondence documented? If not do your best to get something in writing - emails are permissible in court AFAIK as they can be verified.

 

[SlickyBoy]

I have a medical condition and I have been exhibiting symptoms for almost a year now (nausea and dry heaving every day), and now, because of the coronavirus, I've been dismissed from 2 different jobs. I work for a temp agency and they told me they would not be calling me for future jobs.

This is entirely due to my symptoms. Prior to the pandemic, I had no problem working for this agency.

I have seen multiple doctors and specialists and can provide proof. I can also provide proof of a negative COVID test, but I was told it wouldn't do any good because they simply are not allowing anyone with any symptoms to work because it scares the other employees.

I was told by an attorney that I need to wait 6 months before I can file for disability, and that I might not even qualify because I have not held a steady full-time job anytime recently.

Any legal experts here know if that is accurate? Is it possible that any anti-discrimination and/or anti-wrongful-termination laws are being broken here? I am in the U.S.

You work for the temp agency, but in both cases the client told them they don't want you around because of.... (assumptions about COVID here).

Did the client provide a reason to your agency for not bringing you back when this happened? Unless they each said something about performance or the contract itself ended, I would expect there to be a few details. Also did the agency say specifically they can't use you because you are sick? I'm assuming you discussed all details with the attorney.

 

[Rob Banks]

You work for the temp agency, but in both cases the client told them they don't want you around because of.... (assumptions about COVID here).

Did the client provide a reason to your agency for not bringing you back when this happened? Unless they each said something about performance or the contract itself ended, I would expect there to be a few details. Also did the agency say specifically they can't use you because you are sick? I'm assuming you discussed all details with the attorney.

The official reason I was let go was due to the COVID concerns. The client companies did not claim it was due to performance or attendance. The first job, I was dismissed after 2 days, and the second one, half a day. I was not late or absent and my job performance was fine.

The client companies I worked for refused to provide anything in writing. They said that I need to ask the temp agency for that because that's who I work for.

Also, the temp agency did not officially terminate my contract with them. They just strongly implied they would not be contacting me for future jobs.

For the most recent job, I let the temp agency know about my medical condition and provided them with documentation from my doctor. They contacted the client company to let them know, and I was told I could start work. However, when coworkers complained, the HR lady at the client company changed her mind and dismissed me.

Officially, I was told I could return to work if I was symptom-free for 72 hours (as per company policy), but that isn't going to happen because I've been having these symptoms daily for nearly a year.

 

[SlickyBoy]

Two days and half a day - ? Before that it sounds like for the past year you did not work anywhere else.

If the lawyer told you a six month job history is necessary for a disability claim I don't know what else to tell you except maybe find a line of work where your symptoms won't matter as much - something outdoors, maybe.

 

[Rob Banks]

Two days and half a day - ? Before that it sounds like for the past year you did not work anywhere else.
...

I was a part-time student this spring (January-May) and I had a job briefly in March right before the coronavirus pandemic started.

 

[paninaro]

Sounds like your employer is the temp agency, not the company they assigned you to. Did they pay you as a W-2 or a 1099? You may have a claim under ADA, but that will be tough unless you communicated the specific accommodations you required at the time you took the job.

It may be a tough fight to win. You're probably better off looking for a different job, like one where you can work from home. Lots of those these days.

 

[Rob Banks]

Working outdoors would provide the same obstacles unless I was working alone without coworkers. Indoors or outdoors, companies are not going to allow you to work around other people if you are showing any symptoms, even if it is only due to the fact that my coworkers would get scared and complain.

As far as working from home, I don't really have any skills that could be used to work from home. Until I finish college or at least acquire some more skills related to what I'm studying (computer science), I have to rely on regular low-level jobs where I will be working with other people.

 

[paninaro]

As far as working from home, I don't really have any skills that could be used to work from home. Until I finish college or at least acquire some more skills related to what I'm studying (computer science), I have to rely on regular low-level jobs where I will be working with other people.

Lots of work from home jobs that require a basic skillset. You can work phone support (callcenter) for example. One hot new job just created in the last couple weeks is a contact tracer, and all that involves is calling people up and asking questions. Every state is hiring them and providing free training. California is due to hire 40k of them I believe.

 

[Alpha_Romeo]

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