Autistic employee files suit against Overland Park

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Cindy Earnshaw, former Overland Park animal control officer, has filed a lawsuit against the city alleging discrimination because of her disability.

Earnshaw has Asperger syndrome, a neurological disorder that affects a person’s social interaction.

Earnshaw said she faced discrimination and bullying during her time with the Animal Control department before she resigned in April 2007: http://www.kccommunitynews.com/articles ... 822605.txt

I hope they get bit by a rabid dog.

I hope they rot and die, in hell.

A suit that fits topic

Employee rights are being heinously abused here. Earnshaw's rights will be vindicated.

Imagine in this day and age being harassed due to a difference. The bigots are running out of options.

Just another thing that's so...sad.

It's not even as if her work was compromised by AS, they just didn't like her

I hope she finds an even better job with *nice* people soon

Yea, sometimes the work culture can be rough.

While my mother is neurotypical she ran into a similar situation when she started working for the local nursing home. Because she was the one of only nurses aide that did not smoke, she naturally was out of the loop. She was treated extremely unfairly by the other aides, often in spite of working more efficiently then they were. However eventually she saw straight through their schemes and found ways to beat them. Now she is one of the longest employed aides and is on such good terms with the administration that no one is capable of harassing her.

In the case of Cindy, I hope she'll win her lawsuit, as long as her good evaluations are on file and she can also prove the actions of her fellow employees then she'll get some sort of compensation.

I also like this particular case because it places Asperger's Syndrome in a positive light, and if news of it spreads it may encourage employers to really consider hiring the guy who had an impressive resume but stuttered and lacked eye contact through most of the interview.

Hope she wins.

Most people just roll over from pressure in a hostile work environment, and silently go off to find another job, thus validating the abuse.
So it's good when someone stands up for himself/herself, so that people will know that mistreatment is neither allowed nor free.

Most of it sounds like just dumbass co-workers. But the round-table thing seems a bit hard to defend.

From the comments:
J. Davis wrote on Apr 3, 2008 3:00 AM:

" OP provided cell phones to everybody, including Cindy. The problem was that the other animal control officers were additionally allowed to bring their personal two-way Nextel phones to work and use them for years to bypass police radio traffic and exclude Cindy from field activities.

I've had similar things like that happen at so many jobs. I just walked away. I'm glad that this woman didn't. I'm glad that she is suing. It's discrimination, pure and simple.