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Comment by no_wizard | Hacker News Reader

You should file for disability accommodations. That is completely legal to ask. Sometimes you need to back it up with documentation, but i suspect that won't be a problem.

They can't discriminate against you for this.

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I have documentation. They don't care. HR said to just work with my manager on accommodations. My main problem is dealing with ambiguity and context switching. That's something they can't change given their chosen work model.

The old model of working was that you supported 1 main app and maybe a smaller 1 or 2 that were related. These were usually in 1 stack and well documented. The new model is that teams are typical supporting 6-10 apps in multiple stacks. I'm slow when switching between apps and stacks, and without consistent exposure to a single app/stack, I won't get faster.

It's funny though - they talk a big game and even hire in Auticon contractors, but then refuse to do anything for existing employees. I assume a least some of those contractors have similar difficulties as me.

I don’t have any (diagnosed) neurological disability but I would do poorly in that situation too. Excessive context switching is a major source of stress: adrenaline, fast heartbeat, high blood pressure. Makes it almost impossible to stay focused and motivated.

The way that Amazon’s PIP works, you are highly incentivized not to fight it.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37963423

The risk/reward isn’t worth it unless you’re close to a vesting period.

They can discriminate against you. They just need to make sure it's not obviously discrimination.

Yeah, that was a risk I was willing to take by disclosing my disability. So far it doesn't seem like it made anything worse, but it hasn't made anything better either.

I'd speak to an employment lawyer and see what they advise. A couple hundred bucks for the piece of mind might be worth it. You'd get an opinion on what they can and can't do and what you can do to proactively manage the situation.

Thanks but I don't think I will. The thing about disabilities is that they have to provide reasonable accommodations. What is reasonable is wildly subjective. There's really not much to be done.

So exactly what do you think he’s going to accomplish spending years working with an employment lawyer? A reinstatement of his job at a toxic company? Some monetary compensation that probably won’t be worth the headache?

That energy can be better spent looking for a new job. My granddad use to tell me to never chase after old money or old girlfriends.

Unfortunately, there's a HUMONGOUS difference between "not allowed to" and "can't" when a company optimizes for profit at the expense of human well-being.

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