Dilemma

[Hopalong]

My quandry now is whether I fight over the disability issue or not.
(I filed the claim while I was still an active FT employee, and with my doctor's support. The university now says that since my funds would have expired in November, and since my boss had a resignation letter--this was the one he demanded last summer, if I wanted more months of income, I had to provide that...he was ensuring he wouldn't get stuck with paying a permanent staff editor but could still keep me on board so I would finish his grant...--so I did write it. My original draft said, I really don't want to retire but I will if there's no other option. He sent it back and said no, don't say that, say it this way, etc....and I revised it until he approved. So basically, it was coerced.)

That's the situation in a nutshell. I have the alternative of instant retirement with a tiny pension that will not quite cover monthly health premiums. If I won the disability claim, I would receive 60% of my income, considerably more. But the university went ahead and marked my file "terminated" even though the benefits administrator had assured me that under the Family and Medical Leave Act, they could not do that to me.

I know it would be a fight. I could possibly win, I guess. I don't have $$ for a lawyer. But a lifetime income would be a great relief. In principle, I feel I am entitled...I had the insurance coverage and filed a claim while activelly employed.

Can they tell me after the fact that the coverage no longer applies? Because my job "ran out"?

I think they have the advantage. I do have the emails that show I was reluctant to give him that letter...but

I don't know what to do.

Advice and opinions would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,
Hops
I know that I would have to get a lawyer. I loathe conflict.

But my boss did manipulate, browbeat and coerce me and I resent him crippling (no pun intended) my future.
At the same time, I did sign the letter.

My close friend who's been through a major wrangle with the same institution says they're bullying me and I should fight it.

Part of me wants to let it go and forget it and move on.

But I am 56.

Will I be 66 or 76 and desperately regretting that I turned away from a big fight that might have secured me a regular check for the rest of my life?

Opinions very welcome. Advice sought.

Thank you all.

[pennyplant]

This is a big decision, sort of a now or never thing with your future as the big prize.  Maybe it will help you to make the decision by gathering your ammunition.  Print out the emails, see if you still have the first draft of that phony resignation letter (that was really unfair of him!), look up any calendars you might have saved to see if you made notes on them about meetings with N-boss, etc.  See if you have anything concrete at all to prove your case.  Maybe this will boost your resolve once you see it all on the table.

I have about zero experience with lawyers, hopefully someone here has done something similar.

When you go apply for unemployment, maybe their counselors can help you.  If they can take a statement you can tell them the whole, real, story about the coercion and make that part of their records.  Plus, they may know the ins and outs of disability and might be able to lead you down that path.

Also, I wonder if you can go ahead and start the process with a lawyer and then if it gets too expensive and seems to not really have the potential to succeed, then drop it at that point.  At least then you will have the satisfaction of having tried.  You won't have to wonder later about the what ifs.

My gut tells me it's a good idea to at least try to fight it.  It is hard to take on an institution and you certainly don't want them to bleed you dry.  But the whole thing is so unfair and will cost you way more than it will cost them with their much bigger resources.  I'd like to see you win your case!  They took advantage of you big time and shouldn't be allowed to go on that way.  But I also wouldn't want to see it take over your life with a years long fight.  Find out what your obligation is as far as staying in it once you start such a case.  That might also help you decide whether to pursue it.

PP

[Dazed1]

Hi Hops,

My 2 cents is fight this.  I you can't afford a lawyer, go to the legal aid society.  You need a lawyer who specializes in Employmeny/Disability Law.  Please do not use a lawyer who lacks a specialty in employmeny/disability law.  Employmeny/Disability Law is a specialized field, so you don't want a lawyer who is unfamiliar with this field handling your case.

In my opinion, there is too much at stake to not fight this:  60% of your income is a lot of money and with your disability, working may be difficult.

Please do not let the Statute of limitations (ie: deadline) run:  you must immediately find out if there is a specific time in which you need to appeal.  Often, if you miss that time deadline, you could lose your claim.  Read any paper work you have and see if it says you have X amount of time to appeal the decision against you.

I would suggest that tomorrow, start calling your local legal aid society (find it via google) and tell them your story.

It seems there are 2 very strong facts in your case:  First, it seems that you were "coerced" onto acting against your own best interests.  Second, it seems that the Benefits Administrator essentially reassured you that you would be OK under the Family and Medical Leave Act.  Thus, you were misled by the Benefits Administrator.

Gather all your correspondence and emails related to this matter, make copies and give the copies to your attorney (keep the originals in case the lawyer loses the copies).

As far as the adversariality of starting a legal action, this won't be as gut wrenching as a divorce, but it is a legal dispute, so that's a drag.  But, in my opinion, you have too much at stake to not try and remedy the situation.

I used to be a paralegal.

Best of luck,

dazed

[WRITE]

It all sounds complicated.

Only you know if you are going to get something out of the fight- by which I mean is it worth it to you not just financially but how will it impact each day of what is likely to be a long process.

It does have a long-term financial implication for your income and is the difference between you feeling financially secure and not financially secure?

Dazed is right- you need more info from a specialist, to be able to balance out likely outcome with costs ( financial and emotional )

What is your gut reaction Hops?

[Hopalong]

Thank you all, so so so so much.

I pretty much bounced my response over to the I Gave It Away thread, because that rang so many related chimes I couldn't stop typing. Hope it's not too confusing...if it seems to mix people up I'll copy that post here.

Heck, I'll do that anyway. I don't care where responses come.

Thank you again.

Hops

[Hopalong]

[my post from the I Give It Away! thread started by Jac]...
---------
This thread went right between my ribs to the heart of my current problem.
Thanks, all.

So even though I know the university uses, bullies and takes advantage of staff...sometimes quite ruthlessly, and even though I know in microcosm my ex-boss did the same, he DID get an advance-dated letter of resignation out of me. I just hadn't anticipated last summer how much worse my back would get and that my doctor would think the disability made sense. (Heck, even my boss said, "That makes perfect sense" when I told him about it.) But in terms of evidence, I have a partial email trail that shows a pattern of coercion, my doctor's indignation when boss tried to get me on drugs after making a diagnosis he wasn't professionally right to do (not being my own MD) and that he was ethically WRONG to attempt (with, as my doctor said, much "secondary gain for himself" in chemically stompting my accelerator for the last week before the grant deadline), etc. But at least half or maybe more of the issues that would undermine the university's side are he-said, she-said things. Said in private offices, with no witnesses.

I am asking myself what this will do to me financially, one way or another. There is a cost to fight, that of engaging a lawyer and the stress of battle. There is a cost to not fight if I had a chance to prevail...years of income.

I may have a chance at a small FT job, much less pay but a nice atmosphere where the owner seriously cares about people not being stressed, and is very spiritually-oriented. That would let me survive, and I could toss off all the conflict and drama of fighting for disability income. This enterprise would allow me to work in physical comfort. (I would still work very hard, that's built-in...but could literally stretch out on a mattress with pillows and knees up when I need to, and take walks, or even work at home at times.)

If that should come through, even though I'd be less secure and poorer...I could let go of the universith conflict completely. Walk away from the toxins.

But there's another part of my brain that is frigtened and dependent...and ANGRY at the U.

Thanks for letting me spill more. Thoughts welcome, needed.

Hops

[Hopalong]

thanks again, PP [feferring to PP's kind reply on the I Give It Away! thread] and for your sensitive insight on [here]...I really appreciate that support.

I think I am leaning toward the other job. Part of my confusion is that disability income would've allowed me to do my own creative work. I just don't have the energy to work FT and write my novel or do the creative stuff I've been stuffing back down for so many years. I had briefly had a little vision of being safe with the disability income to do that. And the new job, however gentle, would still be a 40-hour week. He's building a new business and there is a lot to do. He hasn't offered it to me yet though. So it's not a bird in the hand.

The pension I'd get is smaller than the cost of the group health insurance my service entitles me to. So though I'll be very glad to have it, it is cancelled out by the insurance payment.

Oh well. I'll see what happens. I have another day to think on it, then I have to let the University know I'm either capitulating and officially retiring (they promised I can have my retirement if I drop my disability claim) , or I go legal and fight them, in which case they will continue to call me terminated rather than retired. They have a lot of power. I have a friend who fought them tooth and nail on another issue, but she thrives on conflict. I am truly sick of it.

Maybe this is the universe's way of guiding me in a different direction. I am listening.

(Wow. That almost sounded like a statement of faith.)

Thanks again Jac for this [I Give It Away] thread, and PP for thinking about my situation. I need support for this...it does touch on anxiety sources that I've bullied myself with for years until very recently. I don't want to backslide but don't want to be stupid either.

gratefully,
Hops

[Hopalong]

Me again. (Sorry for the bouncing between threads, but I'll stick to this one for this issue.) 

I am worried that I am letting go too easily, rolling over.
The most important issue is long-term.
Have disability income would create more freedom and peace than I've had in ages.
I don't really know what working for the other fellow would be like over the long-term.
Any bad luck, any reverses, and I could be working for him for a decade.
What if it's a really bad situation?
If I think it's hard finding work at nearly 57, imagine if I were 60. (Ageism is powerful in this town.)

So I truly am torn. My feisty justice-worker friend says they're WRONG. I was a FT employee covered by that insurance when I filed the claim with my doctor's support. I am not trying to defraud anybody out of anything, my back really does cause extreme pain when I have to sit at a computer FT. (But I have a long-term habit of thinking I don't deserve fairness.)

Whether I signed an advance resignation letter or not, it was under duress. Severe duress, which both my doctor and my T know all about, as they dealt with my terror at the time. So I have called a lawyer for an initial consultation. At least, I will know more what my rights are.

I will let the University know tomorrow that I will have to communicate in future through my lawyer.

I hope this is the right course. It's hard to think it through, I have so many fears of the University and of shame and of this boss.

Thanks for listening...I hope I don't rant about this too long but I do need to talk it through.

Thanks all,
Hops

[pennyplant]

Hops, you've done something very brave!  I was thinking you would not want to start the legal path.  How do you feel now that you have contacted a lawyer?  Do you feel different now that you are standing up for your rights and your SELF?  Do you FEEL as brave as you ARE?

You know, I am going to be  learning right alongside you.  Please, keep posting and sharing the events that come along.

PP

[Hopalong]

Do you FEEL as brave as you ARE?

n-n-n-noooo... 

thanks, PP. I will keep letting you know.

Hops

[sea storm]

Hi Hopalong,
I think it is a really good idea to talk to a lawyer. In Canada you can have a fifteen minute initial consult for free. So I tried three lawyers and chose the one I liked best.
If one does not understand the law then get a lawyer. Taking action and getting all the information will help with the sense of conflict and confusion that you have.
You are standing up for your rights.  Good for you.

[Hopalong]

Thanks, Sea. A lawyer's advice should help.

I will at least know if I have a strong chance or not, which will make a decision of what to do easier.

I guess the fetal position isn't an option, huh. 

Hops

[Plucky]

Hoppy, I am soooooo glad you are standing up for yourself.  Remember, if the letter was not significant, your x boss would not have coerced it from you.    So once the letter is gone, whatever he was trying not to have happen will possibly happen. That could be good for you.
Your new job, if you start it, is different, because they are going to make disability adjustments for you.  So it is a job you can do In Spite Of Your Disability, not a job which proves you do not have a disability.  Your old job was not able to make these accommodations.  Your only fault was not filing the disability claim sooner and trying to struggle on with your pain.
I note that you have been standing up for yourself a lot lately, and I am so glad.  I have to say, I did not like that mealy-mouthed trait in the old Hoppy.  You go girl!
Plucky 
Ps However, should you change your mind and decide to let it go, I support you fully!  I am just glad for this:

But my boss did manipulate, browbeat and coerce me and I resent him crippling (no pun intended) my future.

[Hopalong]

Update: Ain't gonnna happen.
I talked to an good local lawyer who's familiar with the law and particularly with its slant, which is strongly biased toward the corporation/state. He says without substantial evidence, I'd lose and it could drag on a year. Evidence in favor of the worker would have to be overwhelming. He also said that although he believes me entirely about the various machinations of my boss, he doesn't think that will make any difference as regards my back.

Since I haven't consulted a neurosurgeon or orthopedic specialist, I might even have a weak case medically. The rounds of failed epidurals and PT aren't enough, since I never pursued surgery beyond discussing it with my GP.

So I'm letting it go. I will focus on securing the new job if I can, which I think I would find interesting and fun in many ways. As to the dreams of time to write, etc., well, one day.

I'm oddly relieved. Money does matter, but the idea of taking on an institution place I've come to view as ruthless and corrupt is something I'm glad to let go of. It's not right that they get away with it, but there it is.

On the brighter side, this is motivating me more than ever to take charge of my own physical health. From diet to exercise to keeping a lid on stress. And, that is a good direction.

I've been a member of the little gym for almost a month now, and as baby-steps and hyper-gradual as my "program" is, I'm excited at the prospect of rebuilding my strength. I'll never be a heavy lifter but I can certainly be stronger than I am. And I'll do all I can without re-rupturing a disk to build the muscles that help support my back.

All in all, this is okay. I am better off than I was 2 years ago because I will have health insurance.

Thanks Plucky, Seastorm, Write, Dazed, PP and GS and everyone very much for all the support.
So comforting to come here and update you!

I really feel okay.
love,
Hops

[Dazed1]

Hi Hops,

Excellent!!  You pursued it, you checked it out, you did not merely give up.  Bravo and Congrats!!

It sounds like you've got a good plan, especially with the diet and exercise.

The Lord works in mysterious ways and you're on a new road.

I wish you all the best.

dazed