Cross posting from the 2017 FIRE thread again as it is FU money related.
Sooooo...here is the story.
I thought I might FIRE in 2016 (but probably would have OMY’d anyways), but ended up having a medical emergency that ended up with a brain injury. I have recovered remarkably well, but still have some lingering issues with my cognitive skills not 100% for my high-skilled job. I was out of work for 6 months in 2016. So the time off, although for medical reasons, gave me some breathing room. Also, I returned to a friendly work environment, so I wanted to give them 100% (or rather 80% since I am part time) of my effort in gratitude.
Well, as 2016 was ending and a couple of months after returning to work and now into 2017, the shine of optimism and positivity I was feeling started to fade as two d**k managers started to critique my performance, seemingly to me accusing me of not performing to my previous standards on purpose. They gave me a terrible rating which resulted in no annual pay increase, and doubtfully future bonuses. They threatened to demote me two levels (not just one, talk about sticking a knife in the wound).
But I do have a medical disability due to the brain injury. Although not as bad as it could have been, I still think a little slower and have some trouble with memory and multi-tasking. Now, at first I thought “great, this will probably lead to a layoff and a severance package later in the year as I have been yearning for as I am about to launch into FIRE”. But, I just felt this wasn’t right. Although I can take the financial hit of a layoff, I thought about others with disabilities that in this same situation would be in dire straits if d**k managers that didn’t understand disabilities treated them this way.
I knew my mega-corp’s HR department would be appalled at how my d**k managers were treating someone with a cognitive disability and that this problem was localized to my department. All mention of the brain injury fell onto deaf ears with my d**k mangers. So, I decided to take the risk and go talk to HR and tell them what was happening. The HR person was appalled that my d**k managers had told me upon my return that I should avoid taking PTO to “show my dedication”. And that they totally downplayed my lead role on the project I was on right before the injury (even after having a great performance review on it). I was also threatened with a 2-level demotion (just to stick the knife in the wound). I also decided to throw in some other unsavory things going on in my department where people aren’t treated as professionals (grading people from A to F based on how many tests they write).
So HR person ended up talking to my direct manager and I was prepared for the fallout at this week’s “sync up” with the manager. I thought the manager would be upset. Then I thought it would be the perfect fodder to go the HR in a couple of weeks and say “just give me a buyout package because I can’t deal with these managers”. Rather, my manager’s attitude seems to have done a 180 after their “talk” with HR, who probably set them straight on the law. My manager was totally understanding and very nice this time around.
So now I am in a pickle. I decided to stand up for the disabled rights. I could have just taken the punishment, not gone to HR, and ended up getting laid off, but now it seems I have turned things around with my d**k managers (after HR probably scared them) and now I may not have grounds to go to HR and ask for a buyout package. And after managers are now being nice to me, I may feel obligated to continue on for a while.
But I really want to FIRE...and do it with a package. Sigh...the saga continues…
I guess the FU money came in handy and I hope there is more awareness of all types of disabilities throughout my company now. Or at least they are just scared of lawyers getting involved.