Deaf Global Nomad
Platinum Member
Thank you for answering my questions in such detail, Emory! I now have the full picture. I was not asking out of nosiness. I was just trying to imagine what has happened.
I second Eleanor's post above. I am not sure, though, how you recruit a lawyer "on contingency" for such a high profile case. Hmmm!
The only thing I can say is that you basically have three choices: 1. Run and hide (i.e. apply for another job in a different place). 2. Doing the minimum necessary to hopefully keep your job. 3. Finding a powerful labor law attorney who is not afraid of a large system.
You need to think and rethink to make sure that you can handle what might happen. You need to take into consideration your desire to keep your job at the current location as well as how your PTSD will affect your life if you fight, negotiate, or try to get by without ruffling others' feathers too much. The only person who gets to choose is you. There is no right or wrong answer.
I was in a similar dilemma (with the choices), although my situation was completely different. Disability Services were not providing me with appropriate accommodations for individuals in my situation. I was a Ph.D. student at the time and the services I received were few and far between. So I decided to take a break and take a foreign language as a supporting field for my program. Not only did I pass the class, but I won an award from the department. When Disability Services heard about that, the real witch hunt began for them to try and prove that I am not Deaf, which was simply silly. I have been deaf for as long as I can remember. I have the medical documents, but the interpreters who worked with me had just recently graduated from a two year program. They could not follow the ASL needed to teach a research methods classes and could not even p ronounce the English words. The class became a zoo quickly. In order to be fair, I ended up teaching classes in small groups just to help them to learn the material and have them pass the class. I am now done at this university fighting for accessibility. The two final tests I can get by with hiring my own interpreters not the university staff. There are options available and I must be willing to pay along their requirements. I did need to get on medical leave because I needed my PTSD to decrease so I could complete my work. In the meantime I am so burnt out that I will get a job at a Deaf univeristy, which will allow me to work with Deaf students and faculty. I definitely needed some years to sort through that.
From my perspective, this type of situation happens relatively often, at least certain parts of it. I personally know a few too many people who experience "having research stolen". It seems so unreal in an academic environment, but it happens regularly.
Best Wishes! Please keep your family safe. I wish you the best on your journey. Please let us know how things happen.
I second Eleanor's post above. I am not sure, though, how you recruit a lawyer "on contingency" for such a high profile case. Hmmm!
The only thing I can say is that you basically have three choices: 1. Run and hide (i.e. apply for another job in a different place). 2. Doing the minimum necessary to hopefully keep your job. 3. Finding a powerful labor law attorney who is not afraid of a large system.
You need to think and rethink to make sure that you can handle what might happen. You need to take into consideration your desire to keep your job at the current location as well as how your PTSD will affect your life if you fight, negotiate, or try to get by without ruffling others' feathers too much. The only person who gets to choose is you. There is no right or wrong answer.
I was in a similar dilemma (with the choices), although my situation was completely different. Disability Services were not providing me with appropriate accommodations for individuals in my situation. I was a Ph.D. student at the time and the services I received were few and far between. So I decided to take a break and take a foreign language as a supporting field for my program. Not only did I pass the class, but I won an award from the department. When Disability Services heard about that, the real witch hunt began for them to try and prove that I am not Deaf, which was simply silly. I have been deaf for as long as I can remember. I have the medical documents, but the interpreters who worked with me had just recently graduated from a two year program. They could not follow the ASL needed to teach a research methods classes and could not even p ronounce the English words. The class became a zoo quickly. In order to be fair, I ended up teaching classes in small groups just to help them to learn the material and have them pass the class. I am now done at this university fighting for accessibility. The two final tests I can get by with hiring my own interpreters not the university staff. There are options available and I must be willing to pay along their requirements. I did need to get on medical leave because I needed my PTSD to decrease so I could complete my work. In the meantime I am so burnt out that I will get a job at a Deaf univeristy, which will allow me to work with Deaf students and faculty. I definitely needed some years to sort through that.
From my perspective, this type of situation happens relatively often, at least certain parts of it. I personally know a few too many people who experience "having research stolen". It seems so unreal in an academic environment, but it happens regularly.
Best Wishes! Please keep your family safe. I wish you the best on your journey. Please let us know how things happen.
