Shame on The Cash Store for firing Sean Reilly because he had bipolar disorder.
After being a model employee for the parent company of The Cash Store, Cottonwood Financial, he asked for some time off in order to deal with his bipolar disorder after having worked for the company for about 6 months. They denied his request, and then fired him shortly thereafter. Reilly was up-front about his disorder before he was even hired, although there’s no requirement to tell a potential employer about any medical condition you may have — including bipolar disorder.
Judge Edward Shea of the US District Court for Eastern Washington agreed with Reilly that he was fired for his bipolar disorder — not for the half-dozen different rationales Cottonwood Financial had given. The judge said such rationales were merely a pretext for their discrimination.
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That kind of discrimination makes me upset… he has a genuine reason to have a break, he should not have even been threatened with getting fired. Good job with the compensation man, you deserved it!!!
my husband got fired for an “episode” from huntington library after working there for 23 years!!! they knew he was different, they knew he had bipolar, he said a bad word to someone and an obvious melt down and they fired him. if he had diabetes or seizure disorder or cardiac, etc they would have called 911 and ME!!! but no, they sent him home, where he had complete breakdown. total humiliation, total despair. i will never say that employers name again! and NO , no one called to check on tom, we went to los angeles county and filed a complaint. they gave him $4,000….no insurance , we are trying to get him on permanet disability. he is 59 years old, i am furious
Discrimination laws don’t mean squat. IN practice, firing someone for a disability, especially a mental disability, is perfectly LEGAL. One company said to me, “You have depression. I will not hire you.” It is extremely unfair, but that is the way it is. Disabled people are best off doing freelance work or work from home, such as medical transcription.
Wow! You are very ignorant. I work two jobs and go to law school. Once in a great while I do have a bad manic depressive episode and need a break. No employer or my school has given me any trouble about this, none at all. You know why, it is because I know who to run every department and know all protocols and specs like the back of my hand. I am a valuable employee and know the company can not function without me. Someone like you just sees mental illness as a label because you are too lazy to educate yourself on a new topic. I really feel sorry for you , because with an attitude like your, you will not get very far in life with bad social and communication skills. I on the other hand am the the person who should stay at home and freelance, is making a great living and achieving my dreams. I am sorry your parents did not raise you to be tolerant.
I am not sure who you are addressing with your comments, Sean Reilly or one of the other people who posted a comment, but it seems as though you must have been having a manic episode when you wrote your comment. As someone who is currently being discriminated against in the workplace by my employer AND by my fellow employees, I must say that you could not be more wrong. I have been shunned, harassed, and sabotaged by not only my co-workers, but by management as well. This is not my perception of things, it is how things really are.