Advice on securing an attorney and question about potential charge
I wanted to seek advice from anyone who has had success securing an employment attorney. I live in a small/midsized city but no one will work with me unless I get fired. Since I am unable to retain an attorney, should I just file my own EEOC charge? I have a brief summary of what’s going on below, apologies in advance since I’m trying to retain some anonymity and also please let me know if you have questions to help guide me to the best course of action. Sending out love and light, TYIA!
I’ve been trying to return to work after my accident, but my doctor gave me temporary restrictions, including only working up to four hours a day for now. Most of my actual accounting work is electronic, and my main job is entering deposits, which can usually be done in about three to four hours.
Instead of finding a temporary way for me to work, work has kept me on unpaid leave while the accommodation process drags on. They’ve also sent letters warning that I could be recommended for termination if I don’t return without restrictions or if the accommodation process isn’t finished by their deadline.
What’s frustrating is that I’ve been cooperating, sending medical information, explaining what my job actually involves, and suggesting multiple options—remote work, a modified schedule, different equipment, or even reassignment to another available job if needed. At one point work confirmed that nothing else was needed from me or my doctor, but I was still left out of work without pay.
I’ve also had concerns about how work handled an earlier accommodation. A manager told me my existing accommodation could be taken away if I didn’t sign into a separate employee benefit program, and that same manager later signed the termination-warning letters.
I’m now wanting to prepare an EEOC charge so they can look at whether work properly handled the accommodation process, whether it really evaluated ways for me to keep working, and whether any of the later threats or treatment were connected to my earlier accommodation complaints.