Tinnitus Causes Hard of Hearing Man to Lose Job
I was born with a hearing defect but over the last few years it has become worse. In 2001 I started to get tinnitus in both my ears. nowadays it's at a very loud volume that prohibits me to have a conversation for longer than a few minutes before I cant hear anything at all because of the tinnitus. I worked for a company for two years and six months ago I was moved to another department. just before Xmas I said to my shift leader I was having problems with the noise levels in this department and was promptly moved to another department. This company then sent me to their company doctor two times in a month to verify my "claims" of my hearing was getting worse in this department. I was called up to the hr office last week and told I was being let go out of my contract because there was nowhere in the building that was quiet enough for me to work in and not one word of letting me go back to my previous department. At this moment in time I am now jobless and depressed at the way i have been treated by this company. so I find myself thinking was I right to alert my shift leader at the start when i felt i was having problems in this department or not? Would I still have my job but less hearing?
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I commented that it was the first time I had ever heard of tinnitus causing anyone to lose a job. I also stated that I had a hunch that if he posted to the forum as I suggested, people would likely suggest legal remedies.
Comments
That’s kind of discrimination because you lost hearing loss along with tinntis often end up difficult time with your hearing loss. They should not laid you off because of that.
You should contact A.D.A and E.E.O.C
Or you can go to Deaf Service in your hometown. Find a www.ada.gov
Margaret
If your job does not entail sensitive information you might be able to have a special phone set-up at your previous job. Visit the following: http://www.captionedtelephone.com/ and the great thing is that is FREE. I urge you to reach out to local people in your community that suffer the same issue. Good luck and God Bless!
so sorry to hear your trouble. Do go to the EEOC - and do keep your head up. I’ve noticed that people do not understand hearing loss, and, sadly, most people fear what they do not understand. I wonder if it’s possible for you to have a conversation with your recent ex-exployer and get re-hired? I wish I would have tried “negotiation” and other ways to stay employed, rather than getting my feelings hurt, going away and feeling victimized. After my years of living with my hearing loss, I’ve just seen how totally uninformed people are. Some have been helpful and accommodating with me - once I accepted the unwelcome chore of educating others and talking about the specifics of how to communicate with me. Of course, others do not want to be bothered with th inconvenience - and, to tell you the truth, neither do I!
Good luck to you. I know your loss smarts, and I hope your grieving is quick and you get back up and into the game soon! And I hope we all find acceptable and gainful employment where we are accepted!
I agree that this is an awful situation for someone to find themsleves.I have been working with people with Tinnitus for over 25, and in my experience, it is rare these days, in the UK, that anyone would lose their job over such an issue, although this was not always the case in the past.In the UK this kind of problem would be covered by the Disability Discrimination Act, and the person should seek support from their local Hearing Therapist or Disability Employment Advisor. The Equal Opportunities Commission (www.eoc.org.uk) would also take up the case and offer employment law guidence.
I’m so sorry to hear of your trouble with Tinnitus. Check out www.mypmcinside.com and their Hearing Health product that reduces the loudness of tinnitus. IT was developed in collaboration with the DOD and the US Navy to protect our troops from Acoustic Trauma when they cannot wear external hearing protection. Good luck!
This is an awful situation but you didn’t say what kind of work you are doing that the noises helps increase the Tinnitus. Still I do believe you need to file a complaint this is totally wrong. Have you thought about how you could change what you are doing to help you deal with your tinnitus. I been living with my tinnitus for 20 years when I became deaf. It does make it hard to communicate in lip reading or at times to try to understand what you need to do when the boss is telling me to do something. Don’t walk away from this because you need to contact the Equal Opportunities Commission (www.eoc.org.uk) would also take up the case and offer employment law guidence. Hang in there! If I knew what State you live in, I could help you with advocate.
This is very sad and unfortunate. It sounds like you have hyperacusis to go along with your hearing loss and tinnitus. I was with my company for 36 years and had to give up my job due to all 3 of the above. I went on SS disability. I could no longer do my job with the severe to profound hearing loss. I was an Account Executive and could no longer discriminate my clients voice very well over the phone even with amplification. With the Hyperacusis and Tinnitus, it added insult to injury. I went to my manager and other staff members for help. I ask them to let me know when they were testing the fire alarms or doing inside construction and they did. They allowed me to go home and work from my laptop. I worked for a very good company. A thing of the past. While working, I attended various managers classes. One was on Human Resources. The teacher of the class brought up disabilities. One manager brought up the example of a hearing impaired employee. I just smiled. The manager ask how much money the company had to spend to accomodate the employee. The teacher said approx. $100.00 to $150.00 dollars. She said a company only has to spend so much for a disabled employee. If the employee could not do the job after buying the phone, they could terminate the employee. If only employers could put themselves in the employees shoes for a day they would do a better job of working with them and trying to provide a job they could do. From my experience a disabled employee is a great employee due to having to work much harder and not taking things for granted. I have been impaired all of my life especially the last 28 years. I had to work very hard to prove I could do the job until I could no longer do it. I hope the EEOC can be of service to you. I wish you only the best for the future. Joe