u/Difficult_Major7839

My mental health accommodation was approved on June 10, 2026. Immediately after, my average hours were slashed from 33.5 down to 16.5 and 12.5 while management hired a new employee and falsely blamed my availability. After a dispute regarding staying past store hours to meet sales goals, I left early and was placed on an "Assigned to Home" suspension pending an investigation two days later, with promises of pay.

​My July 1 paycheck withheld my suspension pay until requested, keyed it in manually, and calculated it using the retaliatory reduced hours rather than my 33.5-hour historical average. The 25-day suspension left me with no incident report, no policy, and no rent money, causing my electricity to get shut off. When management concluded the investigation, they refused to provide a safety plan, incident reports, or policies, expecting me to return to work under managers facing ongoing agency filings, which effectively forced a conditional discharge and culminated in my wrongful termination on August 12, 2026.

​I won my Unemployment Insurance benefits against my employer's contest, but shortly after, I was in a car accident, broke my jaw, had surgery, and had my benefits paused, leaving me with zero income. Has anyone dealt with a similar retaliation pattern or navigated a wrongful termination case under these circumstances?

My mental health accommodation was approved on June 10, 2026. Immediately after, my average hours were slashed from 33.5 down to 16.5 and 12.5 while management hired a new employee and falsely blamed my availability. After a dispute with a manager about keeping the store open past hours to meet sales goals, I was placed on an "Assigned to Home" suspension pending an investigation two days later, with promises of pay.

​My July 1 paycheck withheld my suspension pay until requested, keyed it in manually, and calculated it using the retaliatory reduced hours rather than my 33.5-hour historical average. The 25-day suspension left me with no incident report, no policy, and no rent money, causing my electricity to get shut off. When management concluded the investigation, they refused to provide a safety plan, incident reports, or policies, expecting me to return to work under managers facing ongoing agency filings, which effectively forced a conditional discharge and culminated in my wrongful termination on August 12, 2026.

​I won my Unemployment Insurance benefits against my employer's contest, but shortly after, I was in a car accident, broke my jaw, had surgery, and had my benefits paused, leaving me with zero income. Has anyone dealt with a similar retaliation pattern or navigated a wrongful termination case under these circumstances?

Edit: My accommodation was pretty much voluntary, I was allowed four 2 day episodes (call outs) a month.

My mental health accommodation was approved on June 10, 2026. Immediately after, my average hours were slashed from 33.5 down to 16.5 and 12.5 while management hired a new employee and falsely blamed my availability. Several days later, after a dispute with a manager regarding them keeping the store open past hours to meet sales goals, I was placed on an "Assigned to Home" suspension pending an investigation two days later, with promises of pay.

​My July 1 paycheck withheld my suspension pay until requested, keyed it in manually, and calculated it using the retaliatory reduced hours rather than my 33.5-hour historical average. The 25-day suspension left me with no incident report, no policy, and no rent money, causing my electricity to get shut off. When management concluded the investigation, they refused to provide a safety plan, incident reports, or policies, expecting me to return to work under managers facing ongoing agency filings, which effectively forced a conditional discharge and culminated in my wrongful termination on August 12, 2026. So from my accommodation being approved June 10th, my hours were cut by more than 50% 3 days later. 12 days later I as placed on a "paid" suspension that spanned 25 days with my pay withheld throughout the duration. Then involuntarily terminated. All of which took place within 2 months of my accommodation being approved. Prior to my accommodation I averaged $1,000 every pay period. Since my accommodation approval June 10th, until August 12th I received ONE $1,000 check; in 2 months the other's have been $440, $176, $0...

​I won my Unemployment Insurance benefits against my employer's contest, but shortly after, I was in a car accident, broke my jaw, had surgery, and had my benefits paused, leaving me with zero income. Has anyone dealt with a similar retaliation pattern or navigated a termination case under these circumstances?

**Edit: My accommodation was pretty much voluntary, I was allowed four 2 day episodes (call outs) a month.

My mental health accommodation was approved on June 10, 2026. Immediately after, my average hours were slashed from 33.5 down to 16.5 and 12.5 while management hired a new employee and falsely blamed my availability. After a dispute regarding staying past store hours to meet sales goals, I left early and was placed on an "Assigned to Home" suspension pending an investigation two days later, with promises of pay.

​My July 1 paycheck withheld my suspension pay until requested, keyed it in manually, and calculated it using the retaliatory reduced hours rather than my 33.5-hour historical average. The 25-day suspension left me with no incident report, no policy, and no rent money, causing my electricity to get shut off. When management concluded the investigation, they refused to provide a safety plan, incident reports, or policies, expecting me to return to work under managers facing ongoing agency filings, which effectively forced a conditional discharge and culminated in my wrongful termination on August 12, 2026.

​I won my Unemployment Insurance benefits against my employer's contest, but shortly after, I was in a car accident, broke my jaw, had surgery, and had my benefits paused, leaving me with zero income. Has anyone dealt with a similar retaliation pattern or navigated a termination case under these circumstances?

Edit: My accommodation was pretty much voluntary, I was allowed four 2 day episodes (call outs) a month

Location: Washington DC

Hi everyone, looking for some insight and guidance on next steps/finding a lawyer.

​I have been employed at a large national retail corporation for about 6 months. Throughout my entire employment, I have maintained excellent standing and consistently worked 30 to 32 hours per week.

​Over the last few weeks, two major events occurred:

​I escalated a complaint to corporate HR regarding the company's denial of an emergency 401k hardship withdrawal, which I required to prevent a utility disconnection.

​I filed for an intermittent medical accommodation through our company's third-party leave administrator, which was officially approved (allowing up to 8 days of absence per month).

​The exact week my medical accommodation was approved, my hours were permanently slashed by over 50%—dropping me down to 16 hours. When I sat down face-to-face with my Store Manager to ask why my hours were cut, she explicitly told me: "I have to run a business. You filed for accommodations so I have to make sure I can run my store."

​A few days later, I had a brief, non-violent, unwitnessed verbal disagreement with a temporary assistant manager on the floor regarding store closing procedures. I never raised my voice, never approached him, and actively continued doing my job duties during the talk. I clocked out and left the building before him.

​A day later, I was placed on a paid suspension while corporate investigates. The assistant manager apparently claimed I acted aggressively. I immediately sent a formal email statement to the HR Lead and the corporate Employee Care Center denying the claims, laying out the exact timeline of the hour cuts/manager's verbal admission, and explicitly demanding they review and preserve the store camera footage from that night (which will completely clear me and show zero aggression).

​My questions:

​Given the tight timeline and the manager's direct quote linking the hour cuts to my accommodation, does this constitute strong evidence of ADA/ERISA retaliation or constructive discharge?

​Since I am currently on a paid suspension while they "investigate" a claim that video footage will easily disprove, what should I expect corporate HR's next move to be?

​I cannot afford upfront legal fees. How do I go about finding a reputable plaintiff-side employment attorney in Washington, D.C. who handles these types of cases on a contingency fee basis? Are there specific local bar resources or clinics I should call?

​Thanks in advance for any advice.