Autistic Adult Punished by Medical Giant

[dianadriebling@comcast.ne]

My son Ryan is Autistic/PPD. He is 25 years old. His disability is due to his Trisomy Partial in Chromosome 4. He was always placed in private schooling. For the last 5 years, he was working at Mercy Hospital as an equipment transport. (He was called on a pager and he retrieved and replaced equipment) Throughout the years he was commended for putting people first, received VIP pins and thank you notes from his bosses and nurses.

During the month of October, now UPMC Mercy, absorbed Southside Hospital. Ryan worked overtime and it was very busy. He did tell me once or twice how busy he was and that he was getting stressed because he was getting paged more and more frequently and often times he could not do his job because he was asked to "get off" the elevators.

One time on October `12, he did "swear", he was given a letter of warning, but was NOT offered counseling. On October 23rd he was asked again to get off the elevator while he was repeatedly getting paged. They did have a patient with them. And that was the huge mistake. Ryan He pulled a face, and the two "supervisors" asked him what his name was. He became panic stricken and as the elevator doors started to close he put his arm in to ask them why they wanted to know his name. The hospital claims that he intentionally put the patient in jeopardy. But if you know Ryan he is not a bully or hostile person. He claims he was afraid that was in trouble and we wanted to clear things up.

On November 25th he was 'fired', and told he was not available for rehire.
Today we found out they he was denied unemployment benefits.
1. Ryan is not SSI nor SSDI.
2. Ryan kept letters and lapel pins of commendation.
3. Ryan after his first warning was not directed to receive 'stress' counseling, a service the hospital has for workers who are having problems.
4. Ryan did not received assistance on the job when the demands above his normal work work were increased.
5. Mercy hired Ryan knowing that he was Autistic.
6. UPMC Mercy claims they new, but I was never given the option to be Ryans advocate.
7. Ryan claims that he did not believe his job was in jeopardy. His immediate boss told him he was doing a very good job, especially while they were so busy.
8. Ryan started out his job by job shadowing, and received coaching from Lifeswork through OVR.
9. Ryan always came into work early.
10. In 5 years Ryan called off only once or twice due to inclement weather.


While Ryan admits that he made a huge mistake and mishandled the situation, we feel that Ryan is now being "unjustly" punished. Autistic people do not do well in "high" stress situations. I am now burdened again to help him work his way through the system, as the local OVR officer does not do much unless you do the work for them. I hate to say this but in all honesty this is the case. It was me, his mother that found the job at Mercy for escort services, and told him to go in and introduced himself. They "liked" Ryan, and agreed to the job shadowing. He was the first in that position as it was a pilot program.

I can understand why they might "let" him go. Or put him in another department that has very little interaction with patients, cafetaria, laundry, etc. But this seems unusually harsh and cruel. It sets the plight of autistic people on end again.

As Ryans mother, I head up an Aboard.org sponsored group for Adults this Autism. Many have a very difficult time finding work.

We always, including Ryan, regarded his job at Mercy hospital as a blessing, and he always got good remarks from his supervisors.

We are looking for represenation so that UPMC Mercy agrees to pay his unemployment benefits.

That his name is cleared.
That he may perhaps get his job back with appropriate counseling and at least given another chance and the benefit of the doubt due to his comprehension of the situation.

I'm sorry but a big corporation like UPMC Mercy should set a better example to the Autistic community. They advertise to the world how much they care. I am quite distressed about this. And Ryan is bewildered and feels "punished".

I was a single mother raising my son. As a Pennsylvania, I actually lost to the state of New York for pursuing back paternity support of over $18,000. The courts in NY got off because they sent an irresponsible court server, and never served Ryan's father with the papers at the age of 2. I could have sued them, but I simply ran out of money, $10,000 dollars. The exhausted the plaintiff.

I really wonder if there is any justice for my son. He owns up to his mistake. He did not lash out to any one or direct his frustration to anyone. It was mistake he knows it, but now he is being harshly punished.

If you can offer any advice or direct to a disabled persons advocate that may take this issue on as gratis. I would appreciate it greatly.....Ryan nor I have much funds right now.

Thank you,
Diana on behalf of Ryan
Any advice how to handle this?

[jk]

I am sorry to hear of the situation but I have to ask you, as his mother, did you not see signs he was being overwhelmed. You even state in your post that he spoke of things at work that are indicative of him being overwhelmed. Why did you not take action to involve yourself more directly in his job?


anyway, to the situation; surely his reaction to the name question was not intended to be injurious to a patient but the fact is, it very well could have been and a hospital cannot put themselves in such a situation. The liability is huge. I believe you are misunderstanding what the hospital was saying with:

The hospital claims that he intentionally put the patient in jeopardy.

I do not believe they intended to infer your son intended on harming that patient but rather his action was intentional and his action put a patient in jeopardy. Therefor, he intentionally put a patient in jeopardy, as opposed to carelessly or accidentally.



Not sure what you are looking for but the hospital does not make the ultimate determination of being eligible for ui compensation or not. The state does so your argument is with them, not the hospital. If the state believes he was not terminated for just cause, then they make the decision for eligibility. Apparently they believe the hospital was within their rights to terminate for the reason they did and that DQ'd your son. I'm sorry but when it comes to money, your sons difficulties should not become the hospitals problem, or worse, their liability. You, on the other hand, simply want the hospital to pay the UI even though they believe they shouldn't simply because your son has autism. If you want to talk about not being fair, that surely isn't fair to the hospital.


Hopefully you can help your son regain employment, even possibly in the hospital in an area such as you suggest but be warned, there are very few positions in a hospital that would not allow a situation such as what happened to happen again.


Even should he only be using the elevators to go from one floor when he comes in up to another to work, he still runs the risk of being exposed to patients again and being asked to leave the elevator. That obviously, if he is being overstressed, is simply more than he should be exposed to.


the one place I would suggest you contact is these folks: http://www.ada.gov/

I am not well versed on disabilities in the work place but I do know that in many situations, accommodations are required for the disabled. They could tell you if the hospital overstepped their boundaries or not and assist you in reaching a solution to your situation.

[cbg]

I will add that even under the ADA, the employer is not required to accept behavior or performance issues that they would not accept in a non-disabled person.