Re:Ask HN: Non-US Fired after bipolar depression shared with...
by bed99 on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @03:18PM
(#26006045)
The communication issues were related to a change in the company that they were forcing us to not write in Slack and I accidentally wrote twice instead of opening a Github Issue. My manager got really upset because I did not comply. I understand him but I was suffering very deeply a severe depressive episode which lead me to hospitalization. I missed communicating this until I got scheduled a call with HR at 1am 5 days later. This is were I started suspecting I was going to let go and immediately disclosed my Bipolar diagnosis to HR sending them the letter from my doctor and the medication I was just put in.
Re:Ask HN: Non-US Fired after bipolar depression shared with...
by bed99 on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @03:18PM
(#26006055)
So they knew. They had 3 or 4 days before the let go call to decide what to do. They had all my medical data.
Re:Ask HN: Non-US Fired after bipolar depression shared with...
by tptacek on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @04:46PM
(#26007262)
If you really want to keep this issue going you should talk to a lawyer, but just for what it's worth (I'm not a lawyer) them "knowing" probably doesn't matter as much as whether or not you asked for specific accommodations for your communications problems, disclosing to them the medical reason for asking for them.
There's a lot of reasons to think this is a long-shot:
(a) You're non-US and abroad, so the ADA doesn't apply to you
(b) You're probably a contractor and not an employee
(c) Even if it applies, the ADA doesn't make it unlawful to fire you for poor performance
I think it's worth talking to a pro about this, but it's not worth spending a lot of money pursuing it, mostly because of (a). If you were a US resident, I'd say (b) and (c) are hurdles low enough that you could plausibly shake a settlement loose, but (a) is a very high hurdle.
Re:Ask HN: Non-US Fired after bipolar depression shared with...
by bed99 on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @05:58PM
(#26008209)
Yeah, I am most likely moving on ASAP. Luckily medication which I started a week ago is already working and I feel way better. That's what I disclosed to them, asked for 30 days to see if my medication helps me stabilize (already doing so) and didn't gave a fuck.
Re:Ask HN: Non-US Fired after bipolar depression shared with...
by tptacek on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @06:22PM
(#26008492)
I'm glad things are working out. Mental health crises are a motherfucker of a problem and the way our industry treats them is its own clownfire. Based just on what you've said about your situation: it looks like you were mistreated. I'm glad you've found treatment --- it's hard enough to get that far! --- I know lots of people who it's helped a very great deal. I wish you the best of luck.
I'm particularly concerned about this quote from the OP:
> My performance never dropped, only my communication. I never stopped coding.
Specifically, I'm concerned the OP continued to write and submit code while also failing to respond to communications from the employer, without a prior explanation. As a remote employee, communication is a key part of performance. Unfortunately, if the OP was submitting code during this episode it would have signaled that they were active and working, yet refusing to communicate. Without an explanation (which was only provided later), this would easily be grounds for dismissal of a remote employee.
We don't know all the details, but it appears the OP only communicated the situation after seeing a scheduled meeting with HR, which they suspect was related to a planned firing:
> I suspected they were going to fire me (scheduled 1am call with HR) and I've decided to share with them 3 days ago my Bipolar Diagnosis.
If the OP waited until the firing meeting with HR to communicate any of these issues, it was too late. Who would fault a company for terminating a remote employee who wasn't responding to communication? If they had requested reasonable accommodations or a leave of absence prior to the suspected firing meeting, that would be a different story. However, it appears the company had no idea that the employee was in need of these accommodations or a leave of absence for the period of time leading up to these events, even though the employee continued to submit code.
The OP likely has limited time and energy at the moment. Adding an uphill legal battle which is unlikely to produce a positive outcome is not going to help that situation. It may very well be best to cut losses, focus on healing, and move on.