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I think people here also need to realize that drugs that treat MS are the most expensive drugs out there, bar none. 65K a year and up. Mine (Tecfidera), is over 5k per month. Employers and their health insurance have a lot of motivation to push someone off on disability. Also one of the biggest issues with MS is cognitive ability aka brain fog. Another big issue is FATIGUE, not to be confused with being LAZY. Think that hit by a train feeling when you get the flu, only on a daily basis or when we have exacerbations. Believe me, none of us wants to be on disability! Don't believe everything the GOP tells you. My SSDI payments are $1831.00 per month after working for 40 years. My divorce attorney said that's a high amount for SSDI so that should tell you something. Yeah...my wonderful husband who I financially supported for 10 years (I made more), left me for someone else...because he didn't want the financial responsibility. What goes around comes around.
I think people here also need to realize that drugs that treat MS are the most expensive drugs out there, bar none. 65K a year and up. Mine (Tecfidera), is over 5k per month. Employers and their health insurance have a lot of motivation to push someone off on disability. Also one of the biggest issues with MS is cognitive ability aka brain fog. Another big issue is FATIGUE, not to be confused with being LAZY. Think that hit by a train feeling when you get the flu, only on a daily basis or when we have exacerbations. Believe me, none of us wants to be on disability! Don't believe everything the GOP tells you. My SSDI payments are $1831.00 per month after working for 40 years. My divorce attorney said that's a high amount for SSDI so that should tell you something. Yeah...my wonderful husband who I financially supported for 10 years (I made more), left me for someone else...because he didn't want the financial responsibility. What goes around comes around.
Yup! A relative lost her job after completing cancer treatment. They fired her "for cause," but it was complete and utter BS. It was because she was costing them too much money.
Her boss even said, "At least we waited until you finished chemo."
I told her to sue sue sue. She didn't want to. She should have.
The advice to consult with a lawyer is a good one. However, make sure he also timely avails himself of whatever internal process is available for allegations of ADA violations, or retaliation for his disability status or his perceived disability status. Look at the employee handbook, or whatever online resource is available, and go through the steps. It may seem like a waste of time, but it's important to go through the steps, or the employer will have the eventual defense of "he didn't avail himself of the process we have in place to address these issues.".
BTW I don't believe working is a privilege and not a right, my husband has a right to make a living for himself and his family. It's sad that because NOW they found out he has multiple sclerosis (we never tell employers based on the past experiences we've seen our friends deal with) it seems like since he got back end of May he can't do anything right.
My husband feels worst case scenario he will just apply for disability if they let him go, he definitely qualifies for it because he has Multiple Sclerosis and the past year he's had 2 relapses and apparently we now have paperwork from his job saying he couldn't do the job.
It doesn't matter whether you "believe" it or not. A job is not a "right" and he does not have a "right" to make a living even though you invoke the magical word "family".
And now that you've admitted "we" (interesting choice of words) lie to employers, I just lost any sympathy I might have had for you. Or is it also his "right" to lie on applications in order to get what he wants?
It doesn't matter whether you "believe" it or not. A job is not a "right" and he does not have a "right" to make a living even though you invoke the magical word "family".
And now that you've admitted "we" (interesting choice of words) lie to employers, I just lost any sympathy I might have had for you. Or is it also his "right" to lie on applications in order to get what he wants?
Did you read everything in context, or did you just see the 'lie' part and jumped on the OP?
As for the OP, it's clear that the company is trying to get out of paying medical expenses. Its all about money.
It doesn't matter whether you "believe" it or not. A job is not a "right" and he does not have a "right" to make a living even though you invoke the magical word "family".
And now that you've admitted "we" (interesting choice of words) lie to employers, I just lost any sympathy I might have had for you. Or is it also his "right" to lie on applications in order to get what he wants?
The point I believe that poster was making is that if employees lie on applications they can be fired for dishonesty and that is a relatively easy case to make.
I think people here also need to realize that drugs that treat MS are the most expensive drugs out there, bar none. 65K a year and up. Mine (Tecfidera), is over 5k per month. Employers and their health insurance have a lot of motivation to push someone off on disability. Also one of the biggest issues with MS is cognitive ability aka brain fog. Another big issue is FATIGUE, not to be confused with being LAZY. Think that hit by a train feeling when you get the flu, only on a daily basis or when we have exacerbations. Believe me, none of us wants to be on disability! Don't believe everything the GOP tells you. My SSDI payments are $1831.00 per month after working for 40 years. My divorce attorney said that's a high amount for SSDI so that should tell you something. Yeah...my wonderful husband who I financially supported for 10 years (I made more), left me for someone else...because he didn't want the financial responsibility. What goes around comes around.
I'm sitting here trying to understand why an employer should put up with someone who has lost their cognitive ability or who is too tired to function. I can understand making reasonable accommodations for physical duties - but every job requires cognition in some form.
The OP's husband should contact the local MS Association immediately. They often have attorneys who will work for free to help him resolve this. Assuming the OP's husband can perform the essential duties of the job he may need to request a reasonable accommodation, keep in mind the fact that the employer will not initiate this.
I'm sitting here trying to understand why an employer should put up with someone who has lost their cognitive ability or who is too tired to function. I can understand making reasonable accommodations for physical duties - but every job requires cognition in some form.
What accommodations do you expect?
On the one hand, I agree with you. If an employee can no longer do their job, even if reasonable accommodations are made, then it is probably time to part ways.
The problem in the US is when health care is largely linked to employment, it can be catastrophic for a person to get sick. At some point they are going to lose their employer sponsored health care plan, but because of previous years income are not going to qualify for Medicaid or any substantial ACA subsidies.
The system is set up to penalize sick people. Every other advanced nation on the planet has realized this and instituted a form of socialized medicine, but in the US we simply let people get sick, then declare bankruptcy while their health deteriorates due to substandard health care, then we dump them on hospitals to deal with on an acute basis until they die, leaving the hospital with an unpaid bill.
This results in desperate people taking desperate measures.
I'm sitting here trying to understand why an employer should put up with someone who has lost their cognitive ability or who is too tired to function. I can understand making reasonable accommodations for physical duties - but every job requires cognition in some form.
What accommodations do you expect?
A good neuropsychologist can help make those recommendations;in fact now that they know they should be giving him paperwork to list what kind of special accommodation he needs.
In my case at my last job, I wrote everything down so I could refer to the notes later on. Unfortunately, stress is also bad for peeps with MS; imagine how stressful it is to be sick as it is and your employer is gunning for your job to get rid of you. That what happened at my previous job, which ironically was a company that handled coding, medical billing and collections for doctors and hospitals. I was let go after 4 months. It was really a lack of training issue, but honestly I was tired of being stressed out by them.
Cognitive therapy can also be addressed with physical therapy. The fatigue issues are commonly treated with drugs (Wellbutrin, Ritalin, Provigil). As far as those goes, like any other drug therapy it's a matter of finding the right one that works for each individual. I don't think fatigue is visible to most employers and co-workers. It's not like narcolepsy where you just fall asleep. I worked 12 hour shifts and never had an issue with it until my first day off...I spent that day barely moving. For years I blamed it on putting in 40 hours in 3 days. It never dawned on me that it was something else.
I think everyone on here should look at their attitudes and understand that some day, you could very well be in the same position. I have a really good friend who has terminal breast cancer and she's been fighting off her Manager who wants her on disability. The Manager has gone so far as to tell her to take her hat off and show her bald head to her because she didn't "LOOK" sick enough (she was doing chemo every week, hello that's why she was bald)! And believe or not, this is an HR Manager for a county!!! I was staying with my friend while this was going on and watching her put in 12 - 13 hours a day + a 3 hour RT commute...and watching her shake and cry two days after chemo because her bones hurt so bad and she would refuse to take any kind of pain meds. People really should be ashamed of themselves and how they treat their fellow employees. Really...SMDH.
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