Kimbel,

I am sorry to hear about what happened to your friend. I find it appalling how some companies treat their employees once they disclose that they are being treatment for a Mental Health disorder. I'm not exactly sure what the laws about this are in this situation, especially since she possibly might have signed her rights away under false pretenses, but I would definitely encourage her to at least consult a lawyer about her legal rights, especially with all of the extenuating circumstances that she has been through in the last year. If she was willing to bend over backward for the company prior to losing her parent (or during for that matter), then that clearly shows that they are virtually punishing her for seeking Mental Health treatment over things that were, and not under her control.

It reminds me of how a couple of years ago, a coworker of mine was suddenly fired because she stopped taking her depression medication because she was trying to get pregnant. My old company flat out fired her with no notice, because apparently she had started acting erratically around the children (I was working in the Childcare field, at the time). I know that these are two totally different situations, and to be honest, as much as I've grown my own reasons for having contempt for my former company, I could kind of understand why they let her go because of the fact that she was responsible for the safety of these children. What I didn't agree with was how the company treated her as far as their approach was when they fired her. She was called into the office and was just basically was told to gather her things and leave at that very moment, and there was no severance pay involved, but they did make her sign paperwork confirming that she and the company had come to an "agreement" that she was no longer employed by these greedy fiends.

After that happened, I was terrified that my company was going to find out that I was being treated for and on medication for my Anxiety & Panic disorder, so I never confided that to anyone that I worked with. It's terrible that some of us are in a position to where we feel as if we need to "live a lie" in our work environments, but as you said, once your friend was being treated for a MH disorder, that's when the company started to give her a bunch of grief. So instead of going through it, there are still many people who simply cannot afford to let that kind of information get out, otherwise, their jobs are in jeopardy.

But your friend's situation definitely sounds like it is worth looking into, because I don't really know if there is a different set of ground rules when it comes down to whatever profession you're in. I would definitely try to encourage her to not take your company treating her this way lying down, because in the end, all it accomplishes is reinforcing the old stigmas that, unfortunately, seem to be plaguing anyone with a MH disorder.

You would think that by now, things would have changed to the point to where people would realize that just because you're being treated for a MH disorder it doesn't necessarily diminish your capacity as far as your job performance is concerned, but when your company flat out fires you over an issue like this, it just seems like another case of prejudice against someone who is suffering from a disease, and is doing their best by seeking treatment for it.

The more I think about it, the more it sickens me how society as a whole is just becoming more and more callous over time. I have one word that could help make this all go away for her, and that word is: Media. Now, before you get ahead of yourself and know for sure that it is something that she would never consider doing, just bear in mind that in many cases, just the word alone will scare the doo doo out of a company to the point to where they'll give into anyone to avoid the bad publicity, especially now that they're virtually committing a crime by firing your friend based on the fact that she is having MH difficulties. Discrimination is discrimination, no matter how you slice it. Companies do not want their names broadcasted all over the news associated with a discrimination suit attached to it. I'm not saying that she should necessarily go through with it, but just the very threat alone might work in her favor, and if that doesn't, then you should keep on encouraging her to seek legal counsel. This company should not be allowed to get away with treating somebody so unfairly, especially when they're down!!

I hope things turn out better for your friend, and like I said, tell her to fight for her rights!!

Eeyore