[IL-Talk] Contract terminated because of accommodations

[Ayoub Zurikat]

Thank you Mrs Chang, your words mean a lot. I have honestly never felt so worthless in my life..

> On Oct 21, 2024, at 1:26 PM, pattischang--- via IL-Talk <il-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> The email should be legal at nfb.org. We also have a form you can use at
> https://nfb.org/legal.
> 
> 
> 
> You are appreciated and I thank you so much for all that you do.
> 
> Patti Chang Esq.
> (m) 773-307-6440
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: IL-Talk <il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Deborah Kent Stein
> via IL-Talk
> Sent: Monday, October 21, 2024 12:50 PM
> To: 'NFB of Illinois Mailing List' <il-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Deborah Kent Stein <dkent5817 at att.net>
> Subject: Re: [IL-Talk] Contract terminated because of accommodations
> 
> 
> 
> Dear Ayoub,
> 
> This is a horrific story, and I'm certain you're not alone in facing such an
> egregious situation! Please contact our national office and talk to an
> advocacy specialist. I hope you have documented all of your exchanges with
> the company!
> 
> Debbie S.
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: IL-Talk [mailto:il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ayoub Zurikat
> via IL-Talk
> Sent: Monday, October 21, 2024 10:54 AM
> To: il-talk at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Ayoub Zurikat <ayoub.zurikat.nfb at gmail.com>
> Subject: [IL-Talk] Contract terminated because of accommodations
> 
> My dear Illinois family greetings,
> It's been a while, but I wanna share this with you so that no one is forced
> to endure what I had to endure for the past six months. About six months
> ago, exactly on the 29th of April, a recruiter/headhunter from ERC path
> light reached out to me and told me that the company was impressed with my
> resume and that they would love to add me to their team. I was hesitant, but
> they made me a good offer, so I left the job that I had and joined their
> team. During the interview process, I made it abundantly clear that I was a
> blind person, and that if the company wants to recruit me, they need to make
> sure that there are reasonable and sufficient accommodations For me. The
> recruiter told me that the company prides itself on being all inclusive. To
> make a very long story short. It became very clear that the
> software/platform they use to plug in all client related info simply does
> not work with any screen reader. Even at that stage, I told the
> accommodation coordinator to be honest with me and let me know if they would
> be able to make the accommodations. Six months, six months of emails back
> and forth, promises, more emails, complete isolation, even striking down
> different ideas that I had, and then the company contacted me last week to
> let me know that they will be terminating my contract because they cannot
> provide me any accommodations. For six months I used to go to an empty
> office at 9 am, sit and do nothing until 4:30 pm and then leave. Not only
> that, but during that contract termination call the coordinator informed me
> that the platform simply do not accommodate for blind people. In other
> words, no blind person can work at ERC pathlight.. I'm sending this out
> because I know that there are a lot of therapists on this list, and I just
> wanted to save you the pain of having to go through this. The company did
> not even give me a severance package. They are just going to pay the last
> two weeks of my employment and that is it.
> Maybe I am naive, I don't know,but I simply did not think that a company
> devoted to the mental health and well-being of humans can behave in such a
> manner.
> Anyways, I hope that all of you have a blessed Monday.
> Best regards
> 
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