I have to interact with a boss that is aggressively discriminating against me for being disabled on a near daily basis...

Buckle up because here is a list of just some of the ways my boss has discriminated against me over the past 10 months:
@AcademicChatter @DisabledAcadem

1. She accused me of faking a disability related injury just to take a sick day (I severely injured my neck and couldn’t lift my head for days).

2. She told me it was within her rights not to discuss my accommodation requests with me and refused to do so at any point (despite it being company policy and a legal requirement).
It’s been 6 months and she still won’t speak to me about them. (HR isn’t helping)

3. She accused me of not needing accommodations and faking needing them at multiple points (she would state this and when I’d offer to discuss/explain she would start yelling and shut down the conversation).

4. She expected me to empathize with her when she complained that a prior RA that had to take disability leave and did not return somehow “took advantage” of her by being disabled and unable to work. She complained to me about this at least 5 times.

5. After she learned about my requested accommodations, she changed the job description/requirements so that the remote work I requested no longer seemed reasonable and she is now trying to use this to get me fired.

6. When I first told her I was disabled, she exclaimed: “Well I wouldn’t have hired you had I known you were disabled!”

She appeared to think that I should feel bad for her in this situation and seemed to be expecting an apology.

7. When I tried to (gently and politely) speak out against an extremely ableist comment she made to hopefully inform her about her error, she shot back by telling me she was on 4 diversity committees so what she said couldn’t have been problematic.

8. Since I first disclosed being disabled, she has worked extremely hard to exclude me from every single lab activity and project, taking away promised research opportunities one after another.

9. During a review she actually told me that I was doing good work and improving her research/stats, yet when I noted that I wasn’t sure if she wanted me to stay for the second year of the position she said my needing accommodations was the reason she didn’t want me to stay.

10. She berates me, demeans me, interrupts me, and talks over me so much during meetings that the RAs have told me they have to turn off their cameras to cry or do breathing exercises because it is so upsetting.

11. She decided that I cannot be involved in lab meetings if I am going to work remotely so she just no longer tells me about them, even if it’s relevant to me, and then she expects me to just know what was discussed during said meetings.

12. She told me she regretted hiring me because I am disabled.

There’s more but you get the point.
I’m tired of having to interact with my abuser nearly every day; One who has the power to ruin my career (and is trying to).
I’m being encouraged not to fight so that I can stay in academia. But I’ve made the choice to try to fight...

Because it doesn’t feel like a choice.
More recently I’ve learned that this person’s behavior extends beyond me (she is explicitly trying not to hire disabled applicants!). So I am fighting for more than just me.

But it’s hard. It’s lonely. It’s exhausting. And I’m disabled.

I’m trying. I’m doing my best.
My best is pretty damn good (I mean I am a damn doctor), but it’s still probably not enough. History tells me I’ll lose. I don’t have the power.

Yet I don’t know how to go on without trying, but I also don’t know how to keep trying when trying is so hard. I’m faced with losing my career. A career I was told I would never have. A career I’ve wanted for nearly two decades. A career I fought tooth and nail for.... just gone.

BUT THEN...
Cue Twitter and the lovely disabled and academic communities!

I might be new to Twitter, but I’m extremely grateful to have found these communities. It’s been like a boon I didn’t know I needed. I don’t even have words for how much it has helped me.

So thank you.
Thank you for making space for me.
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for your patience.
Thank you for your advocacy.

I could not have asked for a warmer welcome and I’m so very grateful.

Sincerely,
An #AggressivelyDisabled #DisabledinSTEM
Tirelessly-tired postdoc