I’m really struggling.

My coworker was making fun of the way I talk today. I know she was doing something because when I asked if the manager would be in she said “she’s going to snitch on me for that?” If she wasn’t doing anything wrong why would she assume I wanted to talk to the manager about her?

Also I’m sick. I have a cold. I’m assuming it’s from stress. I was sick last month and I’ve never gotten two colds in one month. Usually I just have pseudo symptoms with no explanation. I’m wondering if since I’m in my 20’s instead of my teens my immune system gets compromised when I’m stressed.

Anyways, I was coughing at work. And I saw that coworker go in the back and talk with the coordinator. Then an hour later he did an exaggerated hacking cough and asked the same coworker if “he did good.”

I was feeling miserable physically. I’m also going to start going through some rough therapy sessions, and I may get a PTSD diagnosis.

This crap I’m going through at work is not helping. It’s very discouraging to me that the coordinator started too.

I ended up leaving. But not before talking to a manager I trust about my coworker. He said her behavior was unacceptable and he will talk to her and he will sit down with me and the store manager.

The logical solution would be to schedule me permanently after she leaves. Which is in the early afternoon.

I am also going to mention my disorder. Because I am protected by the ADA (Americans with disabilities act) I will not use this as a weapon. But I think they should be aware.

I’m not thinking of quitting. Because except for those two, the job is pretty good and pays well.

My mom is also having surgery in Jan, and I’m very worried about it. She’s having a hysterectomy and she says it’s a safe surgery. Many women in my family including my Grandma has had it done. And they have all been ok.

I'm sorry to hear you are struggling. These 2 co-workers of yours sound very unpleasant.

How long have you been at this job? I would caution you with disclosing your illnesses if you are new to the job. I'm not sure how it works where you are, but here when you start a job you are on a 3 month probation period. During this period you can be fired easily. Some employers will let someone go if they think they will be too much of a liability, without proper explanation, or will say it's for a general reason like "you are not a good fit".

In a perfect world all workplaces would be understanding of mental health issues, but that isn't always the case. Just be careful.

I’ve been at this job for almost two months.

That’s kind of why I want to disclose my disability. So if anything happens I have something to back me down.

If they ask, my therapist and doctor would gladly give me paperwork.

It’s just my anxiety disorders and my autism I want to tell them about. My autism diagnosis might be helpful since people at work don’t think I have any feelings.

One of my other coworkers was giving me this look right before I left. I’m not sure what the look was about. But it didn’t seem bad.

I told the manager it was only that one coworker. I didn’t mention the coordinator.

I would advise against disclosing until probation is over. Until that time they can fire you without cause.

I didn’t tell them. They fixed the problem the way I wanted to, by scheduling me after she leaves. So I felt it was unnecessary to tell them.

Oh I'm glad to hear you didn't disclose. I can tell you from personal experience that the ADA does not protect you from being fired for having a disability. They can still fire you, and then it's up to you to file a complaint with the EEOC and DOJ or sue them privately. They bank on the fact that you will do nothing or feel to overwhelmed to take the big company on. I am currently in the middle of a lawsuit for being fired due to disability discrimination. It's not easy. It's difficult to prove discrimination; you have to have a trail of paperwork, which I have.

So my point is, don't disclose unless it's absolutely necessary. I had to disclose because I have a service dog and it's required for requesting a reasonable accommodation to disclose my disability. So if you need an accommodation, then you will need to disclose. But if it's simply a matter of a co-worker behaving badly, then you should not need to disclose to get something done about that.

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