Discrimination Case Involving CPAP/OSA

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mtnewc19

Discrimination Case Involving CPAP/OSA

Post by mtnewc19 » Mon Oct 05, 2015 7:10 pm

I'm involved in a discrimination suit against a government agency. I was being discriminated, retaliated, harassed, and had to deal with a hostile environment because of my OSA. I was told that I could not sleep on the job, which I was not doing, I was suffering from the effects of Sleep apnea, in which I experienced episodes of micro-sleep and day time drowsiness. During these episodes, I was perceived as sleeping because my eyes were closed, and my breathing was heavy, and made noise similar to snoring. Suffice, to say, my supervisor was aware of my claim, but wanted documentation before she would give me an accommodation. I was given a letter of counseling, then a letter of reprimand, and then suspended. Now I'm trying to get advice on how to deal with the lawyer. He is coming after me for not using my CPAP when I have found it was ineffective for my condition. I would love to hear if other people have experienced such treatment, and what legal resources were used to address your situations?

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Re: Discrimination Case Involving CPAP/OSA

Post by ramblingasian » Mon Oct 05, 2015 7:23 pm

The simple question is why is your treatment with your CPAP not working? How do you know that it's ineffective? If your accommodation is to use the machine, there's nothing more to talk about other than why you aren't using your machine.

I bet the lawyer is going after you because there's no actual reason you can't use your machine other than you don't like to use your machine. If there was a real legitimate medical reason why the treatment isn't effective, no lawyer would be going after you.

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Re: Discrimination Case Involving CPAP/OSA

Post by Wulfman... » Mon Oct 05, 2015 7:47 pm

mtnewc19 wrote:I'm involved in a discrimination suit against a government agency. I was being discriminated, retaliated, harassed, and had to deal with a hostile environment because of my OSA. I was told that I could not sleep on the job, which I was not doing, I was suffering from the effects of Sleep apnea, in which I experienced episodes of micro-sleep and day time drowsiness. During these episodes, I was perceived as sleeping because my eyes were closed, and my breathing was heavy, and made noise similar to snoring. Suffice, to say, my supervisor was aware of my claim, but wanted documentation before she would give me an accommodation. I was given a letter of counseling, then a letter of reprimand, and then suspended. Now I'm trying to get advice on how to deal with the lawyer. He is coming after me for not using my CPAP when I have found it was ineffective for my condition. I would love to hear if other people have experienced such treatment, and what legal resources were used to address your situations?
Good luck, Dude.........you're screwed!!!
You won't have a leg to stand on and for obvious reasons. You obviously did everything all wrong or didn't do anything at all to help your situation.

Did you present your employer (and specifically the HR department) with a written letter from your doctor that you had been diagnosed with sleep apnea and were in the process of getting your therapy underway? Doesn't sound like it.
How long did you try CPAP therapy until you self-determined that it was "ineffective"?
Did you seek help with your CPAP therapy from your DME and/or Respiratory therapist? Got any documentation on that?
Did you seek help from this forum at any time?

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you'd better get your therapy working if you ever want to get another job.
THIS one is surely "toast".


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Re: Discrimination Case Involving CPAP/OSA

Post by Goofproof » Mon Oct 05, 2015 7:56 pm

It's simple, you have the wrong job, you are a true born Serta mattress tester. tester. We had a rule where I worked, "Can't do it, Can't Stay". If you want a job where you can sleep, you will need to rum for President. The choice on whether XPAP works is yours alone, sounds like you make poor choices or just would rather get a free ride. Jim
Use data to optimize your xPAP treatment!

"The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease." Voltaire

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Re: Discrimination Case Involving CPAP/OSA

Post by flightco » Mon Oct 05, 2015 8:00 pm

mtnewc19 wrote:I'm involved in a discrimination suit against a government agency. I was being discriminated, retaliated, harassed, and had to deal with a hostile environment because of my OSA. I was told that I could not sleep on the job, which I was not doing, I was suffering from the effects of Sleep apnea, in which I experienced episodes of micro-sleep and day time drowsiness. During these episodes, I was perceived as sleeping because my eyes were closed, and my breathing was heavy, and made noise similar to snoring. Suffice, to say, my supervisor was aware of my claim, but wanted documentation before she would give me an accommodation. I was given a letter of counseling, then a letter of reprimand, and then suspended. Now I'm trying to get advice on how to deal with the lawyer. He is coming after me for not using my CPAP when I have found it was ineffective for my condition. I would love to hear if other people have experienced such treatment, and what legal resources were used to address your situations?
No discrimination here, should have been titled "Entitlement Case involving me not using my Cpap". As your boss (the taxpayer) I am glad we have one less sleeping government employee on the job. BTW, did we pay for your Cpap before you decided to stop using it

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Re: Discrimination Case Involving CPAP/OSA

Post by Wulfman... » Mon Oct 05, 2015 8:12 pm

mtnewc19 wrote:I'm involved in a discrimination suit against a government agency. I was being discriminated, retaliated, harassed, and had to deal with a hostile environment because of my OSA. I was told that I could not sleep on the job, which I was not doing, I was suffering from the effects of Sleep apnea, in which I experienced episodes of micro-sleep and day time drowsiness. During these episodes, I was perceived as sleeping because my eyes were closed, and my breathing was heavy, and made noise similar to snoring. Suffice, to say, my supervisor was aware of my claim, but wanted documentation before she would give me an accommodation. I was given a letter of counseling, then a letter of reprimand, and then suspended. Now I'm trying to get advice on how to deal with the lawyer. He is coming after me for not using my CPAP when I have found it was ineffective for my condition. I would love to hear if other people have experienced such treatment, and what legal resources were used to address your situations?
And, by the way, I went through some of that, too. I got my ass to a doctor who suspected what it was and referred me to a sleep doctor who scheduled a sleep study. I got a note from him to present to my employer and then got my equipment, got my therapy working and the problem went away.

So, I'm speaking from experience. I was determined to make it work and did. I also profusely thanked my boss for "urging" me to get my problem diagnosed and fixed. In subsequent years, I also saw other employees get fired because they wouldn't get diagnosed and treated.
If you think you've got any legal recourse, you're sadly mistaken. You didn't do what was required and didn't put any effort into it.

"Stupid is as stupid does."


Den

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Re: Discrimination Case Involving CPAP/OSA

Post by Julie » Mon Oct 05, 2015 8:47 pm

However, if you are still interested in pursuing an answer to your sleep problems, likely apnea, we could help you with those, whether they relate to a bad experience using a mask, pressure settings on the machine, etc. etc. That's what we do here - try to help people make therapy work for them... things generally don't go 100% at first and need tweaking, but we need some info from you, like what machine do you (still?) have, what mask, pressure settings, etc. So write back in this thread, and don't let those other guys scare you off because I imagine you want to feel better job or no job.

mtnewc19

Re: Discrimination Case Involving CPAP/OSA

Post by mtnewc19 » Mon Oct 05, 2015 10:03 pm

Thanks for the advice, I'm back on the CPAP, and will continue to do so to retain my job. My situation did not involve any sleeping, only my eyes being closed for less than a minute. This was not your typical government employee sleeping on the job. I pay for my CPAP, not the government. I don't use government healthcare benefits. Suffice to say, thanks for the advice.

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Re: Discrimination Case Involving CPAP/OSA

Post by Wulfman... » Mon Oct 05, 2015 10:06 pm

mtnewc19 wrote:Thanks for the advice, I'm back on the CPAP, and will continue to do so to retain my job. My situation did not involve any sleeping, only my eyes being closed for less than a minute. This was not your typical government employee sleeping on the job. I pay for my CPAP, not the government. I don't use government healthcare benefits. Suffice to say, thanks for the advice.
Glad to hear that. Hope everything goes well. If you need any help, please feel free to ask. We really DO want to help users.

And, yeah, that's what I kept telling myself.......until it was lasting longer than a minute.


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Re: Discrimination Case Involving CPAP/OSA

Post by kteague » Tue Oct 06, 2015 2:51 am

When is the throes of untreated apnea, we aren't at our best and that likely contributes to difficulty getting our act together and taking care of business. There are procedures for establishing eligibility for accommodations, otherwise a company isn't liable. It's unclear from your post what documentation changed hands or if you were using the machine at the time you got in trouble on your job. If it came to a legal battle, your lawyer knows it would be hard to present you in a sympathetic light if you weren't compliant with prescribed treatments. Moving forward, it's good that you've resumed using CPAP. Let us know if you have equipment problems we can help talk you through.

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Re: Discrimination Case Involving CPAP/OSA

Post by Sheriff Buford » Tue Oct 06, 2015 4:43 am

mtnewc19 wrote:Thanks for the advice, I'm back on the CPAP, and will continue to do so to retain my job. My situation did not involve any sleeping, only my eyes being closed for less than a minute. This was not your typical government employee sleeping on the job. I pay for my CPAP, not the government. I don't use government healthcare benefits. Suffice to say, thanks for the advice.
Next time... before opening your eyes..... say, "In Jesus name we pray".... then your covered. Your Welcome!

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Re: Discrimination Case Involving CPAP/OSA

Post by Julie » Tue Oct 06, 2015 5:28 am

Just to be picky , I would like to mention that many people feel they 'just closed' their eyes for a minute, but in fact, the 'minute' was a lot longer than they realized (just as many claim they don't sleep a wink in sleep labs when they've put in hours), so I wouldn't automatically give the watchers a hard time - they may know more than you think.

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Re: Discrimination Case Involving CPAP/OSA

Post by archangle » Tue Oct 06, 2015 6:54 am

mtnewc19 wrote:I'm involved in a discrimination suit against a government agency. I was being discriminated, retaliated, harassed, and had to deal with a hostile environment because of my OSA. I was told that I could not sleep on the job, which I was not doing, I was suffering from the effects of Sleep apnea, in which I experienced episodes of micro-sleep and day time drowsiness. During these episodes, I was perceived as sleeping because my eyes were closed, and my breathing was heavy, and made noise similar to snoring. Suffice, to say, my supervisor was aware of my claim, but wanted documentation before she would give me an accommodation. I was given a letter of counseling, then a letter of reprimand, and then suspended. Now I'm trying to get advice on how to deal with the lawyer. He is coming after me for not using my CPAP when I have found it was ineffective for my condition. I would love to hear if other people have experienced such treatment, and what legal resources were used to address your situations?
Are you in the USA? What kind of job did you have?

What lawyer are you talking about "coming after" you? Is he your lawyer, or is he working for your employer investigating your case.

Not sure I see much difference about "microsleep" vs. "real" sleeping. Eyes closed, making snoring noises sounds like you're not doing your job.

If you were prescribed CPAP and didn't use it, you're probably screwed. Your self determination that it's ineffective probably doesn't mean much.

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