Renee, you are very lucky to have such an understanding boss. I was'nt so lucky. I was an auto mechanic for the last 15 years and I would say that the last 5 or so years was very difficult for me. All of the bending and lifting was getting hard to do and caused me great pain. I did manage though and other than it being physically hard at times, I enjoyed doing it. A couple of years ago I was hired at an upscale dealership and for the first year or so I had it great. I was treated well and worked with a great bunch of guys. I never told anyone about the A/S but I assumed they all knew I had a bad back. Around 8 months ago the dealership went through an ownership change and we had a new service manager who was a real p&^%k and everyone there soon realized that the place was alot stricter and more focused on productivity. Some guys quit and some were fired within the first few weeks so I started getting a bad feeling. The service manager took a disliking to me since I was'nt the fastest at what I did and it was obvious that I had some sort of physical problem and I had a hunched back. I started getting all of the crappy work handed to me and I was constantly picked on by him. I started standing up for myself and telling him that I was'nt treated fairly and he seemed to have an excuse for everything. About 6 months ago he pulled me aside and told me I was making too many mistakes and was working too slow so he had to let me go. I was mad but I knew it was comming and it was sort of a relief to get it over with and leave that place.
I never told anyone there about my A/S and now I'm suing the company for wrongful dismissal and for human rights code violations. My lawyer said I would have a stronger case had I made them aware of my condition but I figured they would have tried to get rid of me sooner had they known. My days of being a mechanic are over and soon my E.I. will run out and I'm not qualified to do anything else. I did some career counseling through E.I. and was told that I could apply to have my benefits extended for up to a year while I take a course at an approved school or training center and I found a program for Technical Illustrating that I'd be interested in and it's one year long so cross your fingers for me in hopes that I can get going on a new career.
Being unemployed really sucks.
Steve

Last edited by cheerful; 03/28/06 08:38 PM.