Gen-Z Worker Has An Accommodation At Her Job That Says She Cannot Interact With One Of Her Co-Workers
Her accommodation may sound different, but it's a good thing for her.
insta_photos / Shutterstock With Gen-Z now in the workforce, we are seeing new things from them that we had not seen before.
This is true of one worker who shared her situation on TikTok.
The Gen Z employee explained the accommodation she has to make her work life easier.
TikTok user Opal Fay Spring shared the interesting accommodation she has at work with her followers.
“So, I have an accommodation at work that I cannot work with one of my co-workers,” she stated.
At first, this didn’t cause too much of an issue.
“Thankfully, they do not work at my home store,” she said. “They work at a different store in a different city, so I don’t see them.”
However, that has changed as of late.
“But, I have to go to that store now once a week to help them out with some stuff, and so I talked to the owner and I was like, ‘This is an accommodation that if she comes in, and I’m working, like, you’re going to have to be okay with me leaving immediately,’” Spring said.
Can you really receive an accommodation to not work with someone else?
It’s not clear whether or not this is possible in a widespread manner, but it certainly does not appear typical. According to employment attorney Kara Craig, “courts generally don’t consider a request to avoid a specific co-worker to be reasonable, except under severe circumstances in which a worker can show that approving the request wouldn’t make a difference in an employer’s operations.”
Craig also wrote of a recent case in Montana.
“A federal district court in Montana recently considered similar facts and ruled against a former employee on her ADA claims of failure to accommodate and discrimination because the accommodation request that she have no contact with a problematic co-worker was unreasonable on its face,” she said.
In a follow-up video, Spring further explained why she needed the accommodation and how she got it.
Spring did not offer any information in her initial video about why she felt the accommodation was necessary or how she was able to get it. It left some people questioning exactly what was going on.
“I’m glad you advocated for yourself but [it] seems like a request to me … aren’t accommodations for things that would fall under the ADA?” one person asked.
Spring did not clarify whether her accommodations are part of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but she did disclose that she has CPTSD, or complex post-traumatic stress disorder.
The CPTSD Foundation stated that the condition is covered by the ADA.
When another commenter asked Spring how to get the accommodation so they could get one themselves, Spring went into a bit more detail regarding what actually happened. She stated that her co-worker was “creating a hostile work environment” and was generally toxic and mean to her.
Spring described the co-worker as a “Karen.”
Spring's employer is doing an exemplary job of putting employees first to create a safe and happy workplace.
Not everyone believed in the validity of Spring needing an accommodation. One person commented, “Everyone has their own emotions and I get that, but from the outside, this seems taken way over.”
To some, it may seem that way. After all, shouldn’t we all work on learning to get along with each other?
However, setting boundaries is a healthy thing. Many workplaces would not be so understanding in providing accommodations in situations like this. Instead of judging Spring or her situation, perhaps we should celebrate the fact that her employer was willing to work with her to make sure she got what she needed.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news and human interest topics.