[AmaShel567]

I had a kid sneak up behind me to scare me where I work at a group home. I kind of reacted. I told him that I almost hit him and it wouldn't have been on purpose. I was shaking and agitated. I ranted about it to my boss when I saw him a couple minutes later. When the new schedule for this week came out I wasn't on it Monday-Wednesday. I'm supposed to be full-time. Can they fire me or reduce my hours for what I said or am I covered under the American's with Disabilities Act since I've been diagnosed with PTSD and experience hyperarousal and an exaggerated startle response.

[Rose76]

Originally Posted by AmaShel567

I had a kid sneak up behind me to scare me where I work at a group home. I kind of reacted. I told him that I almost hit him and it wouldn't have been on purpose. I was shaking and agitated. I ranted about it to my boss when I saw him a couple minutes later. When the new schedule for this week came out I wasn't on it Monday-Wednesday. I'm supposed to be full-time. Can they fire me or reduce my hours for what I said or am I covered under the American's with Disabilities Act since I've been diagnosed with PTSD and experience hyperarousal and an exaggerated startle response.

I think the act requires your employer to cooperate with allowing you a reasonable accomodation that enables you to function on the job. What accomodation do you think your employer could provide you? You do understand, I hope, that your employer can't allow you to hit people, even if that is due to an involuntary reflex.

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by AmaShel567

I had a kid sneak up behind me to scare me where I work at a group home. I kind of reacted. I told him that I almost hit him and it wouldn't have been on purpose. I was shaking and agitated. I ranted about it to my boss when I saw him a couple minutes later. When the new schedule for this week came out I wasn't on it Monday-Wednesday. I'm supposed to be full-time. Can they fire me or reduce my hours for what I said or am I covered under the American's with Disabilities Act since I've been diagnosed with PTSD and experience hyperarousal and an exaggerated startle response.

they can reduce your hours and fire you based on your job performance. if part of the job is not reacting when a client approaches you or is aggressive around you then reacting is you not performing up to the job standards. you also told a client you almost hit them. I dont know where you are but here where I am telling a client in a group home you almost hit them is equal to making an emotional or verbal threat of harm/abuse due to some special needs people in group homes can interpret that as being I cant go near this person to ask them for help or to tell them something because they will hurt me. (imagine for a moment you are with someone that has authority over you and that person raises their fist at you, would be be comfortable having this person in authority taking care of you, helping you? that example is the equivelent of how a special needs person may take being told the words I almost hit you) here a person would get fired instantly for telling a client they almost got hit by the caretaker. in some locations making a threat of harm intentionally or unintentionally even implied to special needs people is grounds for loss of credentials and legal prosecution. caring for other people who are mentally or physically challenged takes a lot of patience and threats of harm in any way are taken very seriously. not only could you lose your job if you were here in my location, but the group home could be shut down for having a care taker who was not in control of their self and could possibly harm those they are supposed to be caring for.

Since they did not say something like ...wait a minute you almost hit a client your out of here....Im guessing they are giving you the chance to prove you can get yourself back in control and never do this again, kind of like being on probation, your boss\supervisor will want you to prove to them you can be safe with those you are entrusted to care for, before they will be able to move you back up to full time status. they may even want you to take care of the problem through seeing your medical doctor and mental health treatment providers for a statement that you are no longer a danger to yourself and others before they can legally give you more hours.

my suggestion contact your or a treatment provider and fix what ever problems caused you to react this way, before you accidentally do harm someone.

[AmaShel567]

I guess I wasn't clear. I work in a group home with teens involved in the juvenile justice system. The kid in question was trying to scare me by sneaking up behind me and yelling when he got close. He seemed to think the entire situation was hilarious even after my rant about not intentionally trying to scare me because I could have accidently harmed him. I made it clear that it would have been an accident if that would have happen. I was just being paranoid when I posted this though. I hadn't expanded the word document text box enough show where I was on the schedule.

[AmaShel567]

Originally Posted by Rose76

I think the act requires your employer to cooperate with allowing you a reasonable accomodation that enables you to function on the job. What accomodation do you think your employer could provide you? You do understand, I hope, that your employer can't allow you to hit people, even if that is due to an involuntary reflex.

I would hope that because my employer is aware that I have this mental health issue that it could be taken into consideration after viewing the film from the facility since I did not actually hit anyone nor physically threaten them.

[Hellion]

Originally Posted by AmaShel567

I had a kid sneak up behind me to scare me where I work at a group home. I kind of reacted. I told him that I almost hit him and it wouldn't have been on purpose. I was shaking and agitated. I ranted about it to my boss when I saw him a couple minutes later. When the new schedule for this week came out I wasn't on it Monday-Wednesday. I'm supposed to be full-time. Can they fire me or reduce my hours for what I said or am I covered under the American's with Disabilities Act since I've been diagnosed with PTSD and experience hyperarousal and an exaggerated startle response.

Well if the disorder will make you or others in the jobs location unsafe, then I imagine they could have grounds...or at least might require you get some sort of 'proof' you're getting help for those issues. I mean I know PTSD sucks and its not on purpose when someone startles you and you have the hyperarousal/exaggerated startle response as I have it myself....but still even so I do not feel if I had a job and that put anyone including me at risk that I should be in that job at least not without some kind of support to handle it.

But not really sure what all your rights would be or where they draw the line between you actually being a risk...or discriminating based on disability which would be illegal, but if this issue actually cause significant risk than not sure that could be construed as discrimination.

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by AmaShel567

I would hope that because my employer is aware that I have this mental health issue that it could be taken into consideration after viewing the film from the facility since I did not actually hit anyone nor physically threaten them.

um maybe you are not aware of something.....here in the USA because of ADA laws and privacy laws, employers can not take into consideration someones mental problems. they can not even ask you if you have a mental or physical health problem. if you choose to volunteer that information, they can not take those things into consideration where the work is concerned.

because employers can not take into consideration someones mental or physical health it limits what they can do when they do know of a person who is mentally or physically challenged...

all they legally can do is address the issue, a teen ager scared you (which is normal teenager behavior along with such annoying things as burping, arm pit noises, swearing and anything else that will get a reaction from adults), sent you into a panic attack which resulted in you almost hitting the teen. the solution limit your time with around that triggering thing that caused your problems (less hours on the job until you can have your problem back in control again so that the next time a teenager does some annoying teen ager behavior near you, you wont have a reaction like this again) ADA laws says they must supply reasonable accommodation...in this case that what reasonable accommodation means being around teenagers trying to scare you triggered your mental problems so the accommodation is less hours so that you are not in prolonged contact with the teenagers.

you can try talking with your employer again but I wouldnt be surprised if she said something like this comes with the territory of this job and if you cant handle it, do your job then there's the door. she cant fire you because of your mental problem but she can fire you if you are not able to do what the job requires (which in this case is being around/ working with these teenagers with out almost hitting them)

[Rose76]

Originally Posted by AmaShel567

I would hope that because my employer is aware that I have this mental health issue that it could be taken into consideration after viewing the film from the facility since I did not actually hit anyone nor physically threaten them.

It sounds like he has taken it into consideration, since you are still on the schedual. Keep in mind that you are entitled to reasonable accomodations, like needing to go to a quiet room for a few minutes, after an exerience like that. Your employer does not have to tolerate you "ranting" at supervisers. It wasn't your boss's fault that the teen behaved the way he did. The way this teen treated you is an example of why he's in that group home.

Had you, "accidentally," hit the teen resident, you could have been arrested for battery. Before a judge, you would be entitled to plead temporary mental incapacitation. That would possibly hold up as a defence. However, a judge would ask why you chose to work in an environment where there is a hugh risk for that kind of thing happening. You would probably then be court ordered not to work in group homes for teens.

These homes are tough places to work in, and your employer probably has a tough time recruiting staff. For that reason, they will be tolerant to some degree of an employee getting upset from time to time. But it's a limited tolerance.