A couple months into her new job, Gloria* was performing well, receiving positive feedback and building good relationships with her coworkers.
During a casual conversation, a coworker mentioned that a medical condition ran in their family and Gloria shared that she too had been diagnosed with a similar condition but reassured that it did not impact her ability to perform her job there. After that conversation however, her coworkers’ behavior noticeably changed.
“All of a sudden I was treated differently. They stopped training me and bringing me into conversations,” Gloria said.
Despite Gloria initiating discussions with her coworkers and supervisors over the following several weeks, their behavior continued, and her concerns were brushed off with reassurances that everything was fine.
“Then I got a call from HR. When asked if I had any concerns, I explained how I was being excluded to the point that it was making my job duties difficult.”
But those concerns were left unaddressed as she was instead redirected to take information about workplace accommodations despite repeatedly stating she did not need any there. After the conversation, HR proceeded to email Gloria the accommodation details regardless. Following that interaction, Gloria experienced severe anxiety as things were only getting worse. The next Monday, she approached her supervisor to address the ongoing mistreatment and confronted them about her medical information being discussed with HR despite not requesting accommodations. Just a couple days later she was terminated and told it was due to that very conversation.
Shortly after, Gloria applied for unemployment benefits and was initially approved, but her employer appealed the decision, claiming she was terminated for misconduct. At the hearing, Gloria testified, stating, “Standing up for myself and confronting mistreatment is not misconduct.”
After that, the employer filed an immediate second appeal where they now escalated their misconduct claim to gross misconduct and introduced multiple new allegations including insubordination and excessive absenteeism.
“At that point it started to feel like more harassment on top of everything else.”
It was then that Gloria sought assistance from Legal Aid. Gloria’s attorney challenged the employer’s claims by applying the legal definitions of their allegations and standing firm as he argued that her behavior did not rise to such levels. Because the employer failed to provide any supporting evidence for their allegations, the Tribunal ruled in Gloria’s favor a second time and awarded her the benefits she was owed.
“Now that the case is over I feel like it had a very profound effect on my life. This was not the first time something similar happened to me in a work environment due to my health condition. But it was the first time I had found legal support. Winning this unemployment insurance case felt like long-deserved justice for me,” Gloria said. “My attorney was awesome. He was a great communicator, listener, and very competent. He was exactly the kind of attorney one needs in this situation. I got the sense he liked the nature of his work and being of help to those who need it. He made me not feel alone and significantly reduced my anxiety during the appeal process.”
*Client’s name has been changed and stock photo used to protect their privacy.
