Discrimination of the Handicapped

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Oh, I'm am positively LIVID.:grrr:

H e l l will freeze over before I step another foot inside of a Kroger's store.

This is the 4th week in a row that Travis' manager has not given him any hours whatsoever! Last week Travis attempted to file a compliant and to take his hours (as per union rules) and was told he wasn't "allowed" because he would be taking hours from other employees. Just now husband drove him out there to demand his hours (any hours at this point) for this week. His manager told him that she is not giving him hours and taking them from someone who can do the job right. Travis asked about being placed elsewhere in the store. Manager told him he could be a bagger on day shift, wait there is a catch; he has to retrieve carts from the parking lot. (a danger to him due to his vision) No way will they adjust the job discription, no they won't make him a cashier, which he is able and qualified to do.

Travis didn't ask her if this meant he was fired because I told him before he left if he quit, he was going to be shipped off to his grandmother's in Illinois to live. So he can't collect unemplyment.

I'm glad he didn't quit. Seems like our letters and phone calls have POed the manager off, so she's decided that while she can't fired him, she'll just make the boy quit.:grrr:

I'm so mad I can't even think of who to report this to. But I want it reported. I want something done about it. They hired Travis knowing he was legally blind. I don't want this boy to go thru life thinking he is worthless because he is disabled. I won't have him going thru life that way, d@mmit!

So warrior Moms gather around. It's time I pull out my:warrior: and get it dusted off.

I need names and phone numbers of organizations. I need to know who to report this to. I know they're breaking the law, so direct me on how to nail them on it.

Because I'm so enraged right now I want to turn into a full blown difficult child and make heads roll literally.:grrr::sword:
 

slsh

member since 1999
http://www.ada.gov/

http://olrs.ohio.gov/

I would start with the second link - the Protection and Advocacy oragnization for the state of OH. While I don't know about OH, I know the IL P&A is doing a *bang up* job in slowly making changes here. P&As are federally mandated and I believe federally funded.

I'm absolutely fuming right alongside you, Lisa. I'd also consider contacting your local news agencies, especially if there are any reporters whose focus is disability issues.

Go get 'em. I'm right next to you in spirit!
 

everywoman

Well-Known Member
OHHHHHHH NO SHE DIDN'T!!!
Okay, I'm mad too. How dare this manager do this! I will continue to look for more information.
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
What does his union say? If he can't do the job, and they can't find a job for him, they have to fire him and he gets unemployment and disability. That's the game they're playing. Believe me, I'm familiar with this because I worked for a Kroger store for 8 years, and was a shop steward for for 4 years, and a VP of the UFCW local for 3 years. I know what I'm talking about. Make that union get down there and represent him. Period.
 
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flutterbee

Guest
Oh, hell, Lisa. What time do you want me there? We'll park ourselves right outside the store and let every customer who walks in know how that store is treating a disabled young man who is trying to work rather than draw disability.

Contact those agencies. File those complaints. Speak to the manager's manager and let him/her know what you will be doing if this isn't fixed YESTERDAY!

Let me know what I can do to help. I've been in a mood all week, anyway. It would be oh so good to give it an outlet.
 

Hopeless

....Hopeful Now
Lisa - I cannot remember which part of Ohio you are in (I know it is not too far from me). What about "Turn to 2" on TV station WDTN? Here is the link, it can't hurt to try them.

Tell Travis - I won't be shopping at my local Kroger anymore. This is just horrible how they are treating him.

Go Get Them!!!!!
 

Hopeless

....Hopeful Now
Lisa,

Heather posted at the same time as me and so I just read her reply. I will dust off my armor and sit with the two of you outside Kroger stores letting all of the people know how they are treating a disabled person. Just let me know what day, what time and where you want to meet.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
I don't blame you one bit for being so upset! That poor kid! I would be livid! Is not allowing him to work, not giving him any hours, not the same thing as firing him? Just because his name is down on their books somewhere, if they're not allowing him to work, he's as good as fired. By not making it official, they probably think they can avoid the legal problems that would come with firing him.

I don't understand really. They knew he had visual limitations when they hired him, right? What are their reasons for not giving him another job in the store (cashier) that he is qualified to do? I'd be threatening lawsuits! It's such a shame when a kid really wants to work and then runs in to problems like this! I hope he's not letting it get to him, but it would be hard not to!

I hope you sue their a$$e$ off! Go get'em!!!!
 
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flutterbee

Guest
As far as changing the job description, Lisa, my son is currently a bagger at Kroger and has done other bagger's cart duties for them. He wasn't told to do it, but one day it was the girl's first day and she was stressed, another day someone wasn't feeling good, etc. A manager has yet to tell him he can't do that.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Witz

I'll have to go out of store to contact the union as the shop steward is backing management. Which is why Travis is unable to use his seniority to get his hours back.:mad: But first we've got to find his union contract and pray it has his ID number on it. He's never received a union card or any other union paperwork. No booklet. Nothing. And God help us, he didn't give it to me for safe keeping. *edit* Travis found his original copy of the union contract and it has the phone numbers and such. He shouldn't have to have his ID for that. I'll try them in the morning, but I probably won't get anyone until Monday.

Heather and Shelly, thanks for the offer. Who knows, I may be taking you up on it. I'm in a mood myself and this has just sent me over the edge.:919Mad: (let's just say this day has majorly sucked from hades) I'm down in Hillsboro, about an hour east of cincy.

Ok. Now I'm probably gonna sound like a moron, but I've checked out the links. One I did find contact info on, and will contact them.

But is there someone you report this to? Some federal/state agency??

And do lawyers file lawsuits for 22 yr old's with no funds?

And do I contact the store manager? This is vital as Travis is an adult. Personally I don't have a problem with it as I'm ready to rip the woman's throat out. BUT should I? (not the throat part, the contact part)

Or is it better I work with Travis behind the scene?

I'm seriously considering going to the paper. (I know someone personally who works there) And maybe I can get the news in on it. But I want to get it reported before I do that.

Man! My blood is boiling so bad I can hardly think straight.

It would be a whole different matter if Travis was unable to do another job, such as cashier. I could see them not wanting to keep an employee that couldn't properly perform another position. But they know he was a cashier at Walmart for more than a year., and a d@mn good one at that.:mad:
 
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flutterbee

Guest
Probably before a lawyer gets involved, you'll have to go through the other channels first. The ADA, the state agencies, Department of Labor maybe, etc. You might contact the ACLU and see if they can offer any suggestions.

The ADA states that they cannot discriminate and they have to make reasonable accommodations. Having a guide for cart duty, for example, is a reasonable accommodation. Think of the thousands of dollars of software my step-father has that his employer paid for so he can do his job.
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
Just contact the union. That shop steward is overstepping their bounds. Their only - I repeat only duty is to provide contact information to fellow employees. Period. You won't get far with any public agency as he is covered by a union contract. You have to work with the union. The store can't keep him in limbo. They either have a job for him or they don't and they need to fire him so he can collect unemployment and disability benefits.
 

tinamarie1

Member
I agree with going to the union. If they are like any other union Im sure they will be hopping mad and do all that is within their power to help him. I wouldn't worry too much about not having his union number. I had to use a union when I worked at a daycare center on a military facility many years ago (who would have thought they even had a union?). My boss tried to tell me that I had no union benefits, but come to find out I did. They were cutting my hours because I was pregnant and had been to the doctor for a few issues, and requiring me to get a note every week from the doctor saying that I was ok to work. They were in essence trying to force me to quit. They can't do that unless they hold everyone else to the same standards.
Go mom...fight the fight!
 

meowbunny

New Member
One other option, have you considered contacting the president or board of Kroger's? Something tells me this is not the kind of publicity they want and they may well find a way to help Travis get back to work.
 

Marguerite

Active Member
The store manager isn't an Aussie, is he? Because in Australia, that kind of treatment happens a lot, and is legal.

Definitely not fair or moral, though.

Our casual employees have absolutely no rights, other than a safe workplace. No rights to be given any shifts; no rights to a certain pay rate; no rights to shift loadings or any other loading; no rights to penalty rates; no rights to job security; no rights to protect against unfair dismissal. Now, a casual employee can be fired for no reason at all. If the boss doesn't want to fire you "for political reasons" he can just refuse to give you any work.

easy child 2/difficult child 2's former boss at the bakery was refusing to give her shifts. He also said she had to provide a medical certificate for every day she requested to not work (a casual employee, remember) so even if she wanted a day off to attend a college exam, the guy still insisted she provide a medical certificate. She was not entitled to any paid leave (including any paid sick leave) but yet he was still entitled to ask for the certificate.

Because she was getting no shifts, she went looking for a second part-time job in a greengrocer's nearby. They paid more, they gave more rights. She was happy to continue to work any shifts that the baker gave her and planned to work greengrocer shifts in between. But the baker's wife saw her in training, and next thing the baker was in the greengrocer's, screaming at them (in front of customers) about how they were stealing his staff. The greengrocer told easy child 2/difficult child 2 that she wouldn't be able to work for them until she sorted out her problems with the baker.
Legally he had no right to do that - except our laws were changed so he can do what he flamin' well wants to, she can't do a thing to protect herself.

easy child 2/difficult child 2, without any certainty of another job (since the baker had fairly thoroughly damaged her chances) saw the baker. Initially, he sacked her and then changed his mind when he realised she still had some traces of protection under laws our government hadn't finished changing. But he still refused to give her any shifts. Two weeks later, he asked her when she was bringing in her uniform to return, since she no longer worked for him.

She was never sacked by the baker, she never resigned - and thankfully, the greengrocer still employed her. They've now given her a (temporary, at her request) supervisor position.

Casual workers need all the help and protection they can get. If they're disabled, they need even more help. So if this sort of employer behaviour is against your laws, then go for it.

Marg
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
This is so unfair! I'm going to see what Kroger's is called here in CA, and stop shopping there. And tell all my friends...

If I was closer, I'd be right there with armor shining in the sun. Keep fighting!
 
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