Mental illness and discrimination

My sister is schizoaffective and when the manager of the Outback Steakhouse found out, he cut her work week from 5 days to 2 days.  When she went in early to open and saw the new schedule, she told him that she thought it was discrimination, and he fired her.  There was no one else on the premises that day--so no witnesses.  When she applied for unemployment benefits, he claimed she had walked out on the job.  She was a flight attendant for 25 years and only got sick in her 40's.  After being released from the hospital, her doctors said she could return to work at Delta Air Lines.  They had put her on a medical leave without benefits and wouldn't reinstate her.  That's why she went to work as a server at Outback.  While delusional, she donated away almost all of her money, so there was none left for a lawyer.  Then after a couple of years of bad jobs, she got married to a wonderful man who wanted to buy her health insurance.  The couple of insurance agents they talked to said forget it.  No one will sell you insurance with your condition.  People are afraid of the mentally ill and when you watch every detective drama with a litany of mentally ill murderers and in one instance, a murderer and cannibal who was schizophrenic, can you blame the

[RubyShooz]

I have never told any employer or co-workers (or insurance agents) about my mood disorders.  Very few of my friends and family know about it, either.  My feeling is "don't ask, don't tell".  I do believe there is discrimination against us.  They would not care if we had other types of medical conditions -- but people are afraid of those of us with a "mental" condition.

As far as health insurance, who's to say you were not diagnosed after the insurance policy was written?  A lot of people are in good health at the time, but medical conditions develop later on.

I know discrimination is against the law, but there is no way to prove it.

[Delusion]

It really does destroy all job and advanced education opportunities and it shouldnt be like that but infortunately it is. People will always fear what they dont understand :(

[Marebears]

my husband worked as a K.M. for outback steakhouse in cresent springs,ky and had a simular problem with the regional manager cutting him short to!!! he was a manager for 14 years with them. She is far from being alone on that one. So sorry that happened. Sounds like some lawsuits to me!     mare~bears

[RJ233]

The same thing in this area. People have no idea what BP is. All they know or hear public is where someone killed someone and they were BP, a man getting shot at an airport, because he said something about a bomb coming off an airplane. It is always bad, and being unknowledgeable, they consider us as crazy, and out of control. but then until recently, I didn't know much about it and was diagnose about 10 yrs ago.Never heard of it before. I wouldn't tell all on an application. You can also check with your state commission to find out the laws about the pre-existing factor. A lot of them will pick up coverage, after a short time period. So it would be a good idea to check in to it. Hope things get better for you. RJ

[monkeyc]

Discrimination does happen and people fear mental illness - I once read something that makes perfect sense about mental illness :

When people get sick or have an accident there's often scars and that means people can say oh wow im glad its not me - with mental illness those scars are not visible and people begin to get scared that it might be them - after all you look so normal....

Im lucky in a way in that here in Australia discrimination on health grounds is illegal under Federal Law and seriously actionable - companies tend to avoid doing it even as an off hand thing as consequences can be expensive - that being said it does happen and you would have to kid yourself it doesn't.

[bernie40]

Hi, it is the same in this country, even if government and employers try and say it isn't.  I don't know how it works where you live but over here we are given a medical questionnaire to complete prior to even being asked for an interview.  On the questionnaire is "Have/are you suffering from any kind of depression/anxiety/other mental illness?".  This means that you are vetted even before they have met you.  If you don't answer the question or answer no when it should be yes you can be instantly dismissed from your job if they discover that you have ommitted to tell them.  

I think there is an awful lot of discrimination with regards to the mentally ill - if you have a physical disability the companies are given "brownie points" for employing you and they will fall over themselves to make sure they have a certain no. of employees who meet the physical disability criteria.  This is not so with mental illness.

So.... I lie, I hate having to lie but until society acknowledges us there is no choice, but then I have the stress of worrying if I will get found out, which in itself can exacerbate my BP - viscious circle really -  Apart from a short return to work for 6 weeks I have not worked for 3 years.

[cowgirlnerd]

Yep - you don't talk about it.   When you do, even though, by law under Disablilities Act, you are still going to scare those uneducated people about the illness.  

I agree also, that if we had cancer, it would be - not easier - but employers are more understanding.  When we have days that are hard because we have been up for 3 days, it's not easily understandable.   Don't get me wrong  - I am not saying ANY illness is easy and I wouldn't want that for anyone, but mental illness is not understood and is feared.

When you have BP - you have to be guarded with whom you tell, who they might tell, and so on and so on.  That adds to the illness with the paranoia.   "don't ask don't tell..."  so true.

[imsmiley12]

OMG I am so very sorry these things have happened to you all!!!  I have always been very open and honest about my mental illness and have received nothing but kindness.  People who know me that have a friend or loved one diagnosed with a mental illness often come to me with questions, hoping I can help them understand what's going on.  My current employer was a little suprised at our interview when i explained what my issues were and how likely I felt they would be to impact my job.  I got the job anyway and he is uber cool whenever I need to take time off due to cycling . (thankfully not very often)  The lady I work directly with was a little more of a pain but I gave her some pamphlets on BP and she's done some research on her own and is much better about things when I call her and tell her I can't work because of sympoms.  I wish you all much luck and hope you can find an organization (like NAMI) with a local chapter you may join to help you through these issues.

[PenelopeAnn]

People still have preconceived ideas about 'mental illness', a term I despise- I use 'psychiatric illness'. There are people who have never known someone with bipolar and yet already have an image in their head. Unfortunately, it is commonly assumed that people with bipolar disorder are irresponsible, so I go around explaining myself and I shouldn't have to...I take my meds, I go to my appointments, I don't drink, I don't do drugs, etc. Then when they hear I've been hospitalized, yeah well, so do a lot of people with diabetes who need their blood sugar stabilized. I haven't had one hospitalization in 3 years. Is it just what I believe of other people or am I realistic in thinking people have preconceived and inaccurate ideas? I always imagine people who find out I'm on disability for a psychiatric illness think I am being lazy and working the system. If they only knew what they can't see, besides I pay room and board and help out on our small farm. Do people really think this? Or am I being paranoid? Anytime I tell someone I am on disability, I start explaining things I shouldn't have to just because I am afraid of being lumped into pile of lay abouts they have accumulated in their minds. Sorry, little rant there.

[Lizz67]

I was reassinged at my job after a hospitalization three years ago.  I work for a special education co-op that has staff in different county schools. The principal of my school said he didn't want me on his campus anymore.  My superiors moved me to another school.  
It was devastating.
It is against the ADA to fire or reassign an employee.

Just to let you know, I took my complaint to the Illinois Human Rights Commision. It's free, and they have a judge that can order reinstatement, or financial damages.

They also forwarded my case to the EEOC.

The process is SLOW, but my lawyer said after a case has gone through the commission process, a regular lawyer would be more likley to take it up as a lawsuit.

Other states probably have similar offices. I'd suggest calling a lawyer's office, or a political representative's office.

[ILADVOCATE]

I would speak to your local independent living center as well as the EEOC. They are designed to deal with disability discrimination issues. There's one in every county of every state. Here's a list:
http://www.ilru.org/html/publications/directory/index.html