Is there a law that prohibits it?

CrazyPaul said:
So far there's no answer to my question in this topic. It seems that we don't have a law regarding this issue. Is that correct? I thought it would violate our deaf rights. By the way, I told my supervisor that from now on, I would use a seperate paper for my written responses only and hold it up for her to read it but not to touch it because I don't fucking trust her. The bitch laughed at me thinking I am being silly. What the fuck? Since she doesn't respect me, she's being unprofessional (giving me a bad attitude- hint: she's black).
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Sounds like you have some personal issues unrelated to accommodation at work, or to the ADA.:cool2:
 
CrazyPaul said:
So far there's no answer to my question in this topic. It seems that we don't have a law regarding this issue. Is that correct? I thought it would violate our deaf rights. By the way, I told my supervisor that from now on, I would use a seperate paper for my written responses only and hold it up for her to read it but not to touch it because I don't fucking trust her. The bitch laughed at me thinking I am being silly. What the fuck? Since she doesn't respect me, she's being unprofessional (giving me a bad attitude- hint: she's black).
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Eh? You poured ink over her? "Splains her attitude.
Unfortunately all correspondence using written words at he workplace are the property of the business, so there is nothing illegal about it. If you are worried that the evidence is damaging to you or your job, why write it in the first place?
 
before you get into hot water, perhaps its time to stop in your HR dept. (human resource). You need to bring it up front with HR and say you are feeling harassed and uncomfortable. You need to make sure you comment clearly that you are extremely happy that she is making arrangements to work out the communication, however you are not sure why she is keeping copies and you dont have any for reference.

Many companies have a policy on harassment and this falls in the gray area of harassment. It doesnt necessarly have to be sexual comments, but anything to make you uncomfortable being handicapped, different race, comments or statement regarding to opposite gender, etc.

You need to make a case to HR saying she is keeping copies of conversation and won't let you have a copy and you feel harassed by this. Whatever HR comes up for a resolution, you need to follow it to the letter, or it will be grounds for termination for you, doesnt matter if you like it or not.

There is no clear cut law on this, but if you feel discriminated, it needs to be documented and have copies of that documentation. once you have copies, you follow company policy and always cross your T's and dot the I's, then you have a case.
It may not be what you want to hear- but you already know that being deaf means we have to work harder and better then hearing people in today's economy.
 
jillio said:
Sorry, but if you are using writing to communicate about issues at work or issues related to the work environment, it is not illegal for the supervisor to keep the note. It is not a breach of your confidentiality if he is not making the correspondance available to everyone.

The same would hold true for emails or texts in the work environment. For one thing, it serves as documentation that accommodation is being made.
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That's what I would think.
 
CrazyPaul said:
For example, at work my supervisor or co-worker and I communicate by writing and at the end, he/she keeps the note (on which we wrote down) as an evidence so is there a law that prohibits it? In a hearing world, there's a law that doesn't allow a supervisor or an employee to tape-record another employee's conversation at work.

My supervisor told me to prove that it's not allowed to keep a note that we wrote down after I asked her to throw it away. If there is a law regarding this, please help me find it so I can make a copy and show it to my supervisor.
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Would you feel better if you could also keep copies for yourself?

If any of this note writing is part of a disciplinary process, you should request an interpreter instead of note writing. If you prefer note writing, you can request a third party witness to be present.

If it's just simple instruction giving, I don't understand what you're worried about. The notes can also be used to support your side in a dispute.
 
Steinhauer said:
ah. And don't let the boss have a copy of your responses.
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That is what I was going to say, use your note book and be careful what you write! I would tell your boss you want a copy of the notes for your records . I would not like my boss keeping notes on what we talked about.
Maybe you could record what said too and have someone wtite it down for you. Tell your boss you need tjis for your record.
 
It's unfair, but not illegal. I agree with others who have come up with creative alternative ways to communicate.

Do mention to your boss that you feel it is unfair she is keeping the notes when if you were hearing, she would not have a way to keep the spoken communication on file.
 
Beowulf said:
Eh? You poured ink over her? "Splains her attitude.
Unfortunately all correspondence using written words at he workplace are the property of the business, so there is nothing illegal about it. If you are worried that the evidence is damaging to you or your job, why write it in the first place?
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I didn't mean to make a racist remark. You know how some black women behave when they talk like the plaintiffs and/or defendants on several Judge Judy shows where Judge Judy says "I don't like that attitude so stop it or get out of my court". My supervisor is one of them. Most of my co-workers don't like her because of her inappropriate behavior. Even my union rep can't stand her. That's the way she is.

Why did I write it in the first place? She demanded my answer in writing to her question immediately and then set up the meeting with an interpreter one week later. I am not worried about what I said to her in writing but it's not fair for deaf workers because any supervisor doesn't keep records of hearing workers' voiced correspondences. In other words, my right is violated when a supervisor keeps the note while she/he can't do that to hearing workers who speak with their voices. That's my point. There should be a law to protect that right.
 
CrazyPaul said:
So far there's no answer to my question in this topic. It seems that we don't have a law regarding this issue. Is that correct? I thought it would violate our deaf rights. By the way, I told my supervisor that from now on, I would use a seperate paper for my written responses only and hold it up for her to read it but not to touch it because I don't fucking trust her. The bitch laughed at me thinking I am being silly. What the fuck? Since she doesn't respect me, she's being unprofessional (giving me a bad attitude- hint: she's black).
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And here is another hint , you're a racist to a statement like that!
 
deafbajagal said:
It's unfair, but not illegal. I agree with others who have come up with creative alternative ways to communicate.

Do mention to your boss that you feel it is unfair she is keeping the notes when if you were hearing, she would not have a way to keep the spoken communication on file.
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I did tell her about that but she gave me the "attitude" and said "I don't care". Very disrespectful. I felt oppressed by her because of my deafness. And she told me to prove that it's illegal for her to do that.

That's the reason why I am here to find out if we have a law like that.

However, from now on I will use a seperate paper for my writing only, not on a supervisor's paper and make sure that he/she doesn't touch my note while reading it. I have had enough.
 
CrazyPaul said:
And she told me to prove that it's illegal for her to do that.

That's the reason why I am here to find out if we have a law like that.
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no it's not illegal. she actually followed the law by accommodating you.
 
You should made sure you have all the facts before you tell your boss something is illegal! It does not help you get on the good side with a boss, and if you're wrong it made it look like you do not know what you're talking about!
 
CrazyPaul said:
I didn't mean to make a racist remark. You know how some black women behave when they talk like the plaintiffs and/or defendants on several Judge Judy shows where Judge Judy says "I don't like that attitude so stop it or get out of my court". My supervisor is one of them. Most of my co-workers don't like her because of her inappropriate behavior. Even my union rep can't stand her. That's the way she is.
Has it occurred to you that she has attitude because she is the boss?


Why did I write it in the first place? She demanded my answer in writing to her question immediately and then set up the meeting with an interpreter one week later. I am not worried about what I said to her in writing but it's not fair for deaf workers because any supervisor doesn't keep records of hearing workers' voiced correspondences. In other words, my right is violated when a supervisor keeps the note while she/he can't do that to hearing workers who speak with their voices. That's my point. There should be a law to protect that right.
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I understand your frustration and it is a gray area as far as it goes to deaf rights. Unfortunately, a deaf worker has to do more in situations that call for written communication. At the top if each page of paper you write on, you could expressly request that the paper be returned to you upon completion of the conversation. If the paper was used in a board meeting, the request you wrote will be noted, hopefully in your favor. Or if you are a union member, you could have a representative of it being present at the next "talk." There are more options I will not discuss here, but the point is that deaf and hearing workers are covered by the same company rules regarding information given in the workplace.
 
Beowulf said:
I understand your frustration and it is a gray area as far as it goes to deaf rights. Unfortunately, a deaf worker has to do more in situations that call for written communication. At the top if each page of paper you write on, you could expressly request that the paper be returned to you upon completion of the conversation. If the paper was used in a board meeting, the request you wrote will be noted, hopefully in your favor. Or if you are a union member, you could have a representative of it being present at the next "talk." There are more options I will not discuss here, but the point is that deaf and hearing workers are covered by the same company rules regarding information given in the workplace.
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At the meeting one week later, my union rep told my supervisor that it's not acceptable and she (my supervisor) disagreed with it. She thinks she can do anything because she is a supervisor.
 
I told my deaf co-workers about it and they don't like it either so I am not the only one.
 
CrazyPaul said:
At the meeting one week later, my union rep told my supervisor that it's not acceptable and she (my supervisor) disagreed with it. She thinks she can do anything because she is a supervisor.
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She sounds unpleasant. Since you are a union member, just relax and let them do their thing. I think the management would prefer to avoid a strike. ;)
 
souggy said:
Wirelessly posted

Portable whiteboard.

Use it.
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I don't want to bring anything to work except my cigarette pack, pen and employee id card in my shirt pocket. It's a good idea to use a portable erasable board but it's a pain in the ass to bring it along with an erasable marker to work everyday.
 
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