Ok lets see here where should I start. About almost 2 years ago, back in October of 2006 I started at a factory as a temp. When I was first filling out the application to become a temp they had a little paper asking about disabilities/aliments....

I checked, "Asthma", "Allergies", and "Sinus Problems".

Then in June of 2007 they offered me a Full Time job with the company. I accepted and filled out all of their paperwork that they required. Which also had that little disability sheet thing and I filled out the same thing.

Well now, about 2 months into me becoming full time they put started training me in on inspecting the parts in the area I had been working in. The job requires that I have a small open tub of rubbing alcohol within 2-3 feet of my face. This of course bothered my Asthma...that they know I have. So I went to my team leader about it and he said he was ok with me not working in that station as long as it didn't bother me to work in the other stations. Then, however through the grape vine I heard that the supervisor said that I was going to be stuck in that area until I got a doctors excuse.

Ok well I was rather upset with this information but the next day came and I wasn't in the inspection area and hadn't been working in that area for a few months. Up until recently about 1 month ago they started me back on the inspections thing and once again the Alcohol started effecting my Asthma. SO....with my asthma starting to effect me I went ahead and bit the bullet deciding if the boss wanted to be a arse and make me get a Doctors Excuse then so be it.

I went into the doctor on April 1st and he agreed with me saying I did in fact have asthma. Gave me an excuse that read something to the extent of "My patient can not work around High-Oder Chemicals" and some other blah blah blahs and doctor jargon. That was on the first and it is now the 3rd, they came up to me today before time to go home (being 7am EST, I'm 3rd shift) and basically told me I couldn't come in tonight cause right now I'm considered a risk for the company.

My question is, Can they legally terminate me over this since they had previous knowledge that I had asthma and hired me in the first place anyway? I don't think they can...to me it's kinda like them giving a job to a retard knowing full well they have a mental disorder then fire them for putting the parts up their noses. Also can a company tell you to just not come in without a formal letter of suspension or something like that?

What state are you in Tov & is your state a "At Will State" where you can hire/fire for any reason.

Here are some things I know, from Maryland Law... and I think a lot of this is nationwide.

It is illegal to discriminate hiring some one because of a disability. When they fill out their application, I believe, your not supposed to give you medical info before hand. Once a job offer has been made though, they can request you have a physical and see if your fit for duty (can perform job duties). That becomes a sticky situation because once your company terminates you, and if they say its because of a disability, thats when they can have a law suit on their hands. I recomend looking up your DOL (Department of Labor) website for you state and look up ADA (American Disabiltiy Act) and see what it says. I would even call or email someone about it.

As far as suspension, I think it does vary state to state, we suspend guys all the time with out having them sign paper work. BUT, from a Workers Comp, Short Term Disability & Insurance standpoint, I would document EVERYTHING. Request they give you something specifically stating WHY you were suspended. The insurance companies are always telling me that if its not documented, it never happened and its just hearsay. So make them put it in writing, and make sure they SIGN IT. When you call some one/email, make sure you document that also, especially who were speaking too. If they wont give their last name, they should give a ID number etc. (That is true for bill collectors too )

I hope that helps some.

Cant help on USA law but surely this:

"It is illegal to discriminate hiring some one because of a disability." [Usually with obvious disclaimers abotu fitnesss to do the work expected of one - ie you dont hire someone with Vertigo to clean windows from a sky scraper. Or an arsonist to become a fire fighter]

Sums up what should be enshrined in Law in most "western" countries these days?

If your job role changes from the job you accepted it isnt your fault especially if its forced upon you without choice.

Aye Callumf, I just spoke to my insurance broker and he said if they changed your Original job that they're on shakey ground. He is emailing Don Fin, he's a big WC/Insurance Lawyer down here and he said he will find out some info for me. This will be for MD law of course, but like I said... most of this stuff is nationwide.

Best of luck Tov, wish I could help

(Oh and, if you sue for many millions of $$, send me some! )

Yes send Adam some so he can send me some dairy milk

Aye, Best of luck man! *hugs*

ROFL, I just got off the phone with the head of HR, I requested that I get my suspension in writing and they denied me cause they have told me Verbally.....

I was like "Well if I'm being suspended then I would like something in writing cause if I don't get something in writing then it never happened and if I'm going to get terminated over my asthma then that's illegal."

Their trying to say that it's not illegal and that what I have isn't a disability blah blah blah....

I of course replied with well we'll just see what my doctor and lawyer have to say about it.....

Then he started acting like a ****ing teenager saying stuff like "Well go ahead then call your lawyer."

Things are just seeming very fishy to me, and I plan to get to the bottom of it one way or another. He also basically told me since I can't work on the rotation that which includes the inspection area that I couldn't fulfill my job duties and that could lead to termination.

But I can work ALL the other areas of the rotation, so why is it so much of a big deal that I stay away from one spot on the rotation? It sounds like they are jealious cause I can get out of doing a job or something like I wanted to have asthma so I could get out of doing things **** them is all I got to say....

Yes the *'s are me cursing but since this isn't area 51 I can't get away with it .

I would act as professional as possible with dealing with this. If you ever do take it to court, you don't want your character to come into question. Again, Document how they responded and how their character was. This is from the ADA website.

Couldnt agree more on this.

Dont resort to arguments or name calling stay calm, professional and rise above any bait.

It might be hard but in the long run its a much better way of gettign what you want.

Ok Insurance Broker called me back. He said Don said there is always 2 sides to the story and you need to ask your company some questions. He said things like this:

Why were you transfered?
Did they transfer you on purpose knowing you have asthma or did they just forget it? Are they trying to trip you up? If so, why would they do that?
Is there other areas you can work preforming the job duties you were hired for?

He said that it does sound rather fishy, especially because they're not trying to work with you and give you the proper documentation etc. If they have more then 15 employees they have to follow ADA Law/Rules.

He said once you feel like you can't talk or resolve anything any more to give this website a look. National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) its a website for National Employee Lawyer Assoc. You can plug your city & zip in and it will pull up a list of lawyers who specifically deal with these issues. I would put a call into a few and ask some questions, like is this worth having a constulation. I'm sure you can get some free legal advice that way.

Great advice from Snuggs. And yeah, stay professional when dealing with them, don't resort to name calling, verbal fights.

Document everything... even phone conversations.

The medical question that you filled when you first applied shouldn't have been there at all. No one should be obligated to disclose any medical conditions prior to hiring (maybe it's different down there), they can make you get a medical when they're about to give you your benefits coverage. But since they hired you, they chose to ignore what you put in there.