Need info about ADA protection

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A little background. My job is currently in a multilevel transition. The company is creating a new division and my previous boss has gone there. I've been working under him for about 2yrs, and although nothing formal has ever been discussed we have a sort of unspoken understanding about my AS. In my performance reviews, he has repeatedly noted in various ways that although my body language, organization, and other social skills are somewhat below ideal, my technical abilities are of such high value that he overlooks the other.

Now I have another boss, who has previously complained about my "apparent lack of enthusiasm and concern" for assignments. My former boss has already told me that in about a year to 18months there will be a position for me inthe new division that will take more advantage of my abilities. In the mean time, he said "try to get along".

Other than not jumping up and down when presented with a problem, there are no complaints about the quality of my work. From what I've read, it would seem that I will be protected under Americans with Disabilities should the new boss start moving to fire me, but I was wondering how exactly this works. When she calls me inand says straighten up or you're gone, what do I do or say?

If you are within your performance standards they can't justify getting rid of you and you are protected. I remember you mentioning this briefly the other day, and I've had to deal with a similar problem before with a supervisor. Although I didn't know anything about AS at the time, it still falls under harassment in workplace laws even without the AS factored in.

The most important thing you can do is to document the situation. Write a letter and take it to either the next person in the chain of command (letting them know in the letter and as you hand it to them that you have made and kept a copy for yourself) or if you don't trust them, the HR department. I know this sounds like an aggressive move, but if you really believe this person is a threat and wants to get rid of you without justification, in the eyes of the legal system you need to act now:

The first thing thing they are going to do is start creating a paper trail on you (You may have already noticed it). Writeups for things that look minute (because really, it's the best they can do), which nobody normally gets written up for. This paper trail eventually builds into a pile that this supervisor will use to justify firing you.

Once you inform a supervisor of the harassment, this supervisor cannot legally retaliate (this is stipulated in law). This includes writing you up for minutia that you would normally never be written up for. You'll find a lot of this information in your companies HR handbook under harassment.

You don't have to have AS to complain about harassment this way, but the AS certainly lends more weight to your case.

The letter should be calm, detailed (outlining your performance as well as the discrepencies between the behavior of the former and latter supervisors behavior) and it should state that you "feel like you are being harassed". It might not even hurt add that you enjoy your job and wish to remain with the company (which debunks everything the supervisor said about lack of enthusiasm). Write the letter in the sense that you know it might be presented in court later (i.e. make sure the tone is very professional).

All paperwork on this matter will appear in court if it ever gets that far, and the company knows this! Which means that letter will too. In the eyes of the court, if it wasn't documented it's really hard to prove it happened.

But by writing the letter, it shouldn't get that far.

I hope this helps Todd. If you need any more advice, feel free to contact me any way you know how.

Thanks. She hasn't written me up or formally complained about anything yet. My former boss may still have enough power to keep her off me. If she just has a general dislike for me, I can live with that. I think its best to keep my head down right now and maintain a low profile. But if she tries to write me up on something, then I'll begin the paper trail. She hasn't given me any trouble so far. Its possible she's already been told I'm off limits. Basically no shots have been fired so far and I don't want to be the first as that could hurt my standing with others in the company (she's really the only one who has a problem with me, but she kind of has a problem with everyone who didn't work with her at healthSouth.)