Published on 12, July, 2020
Dear All I am brand new to this as only got diagnosed as a 50 years old autistic guy which I wish I found out when I was younger.
I have worked for the NHS as a rehabilitation engineering in the south of England. I always wanted to know what is wrong with me and why do I always get bullied when just want to do a good job. I started about 8 years ago when getting into teaching my self more tech as CAD and good at sound engineering because I was sensitive to sound and was good at picking up stuff really quickly. I could never sit still and always needed my brain to be entertained as it were and started to realise I loved learning rather than people just automatically thought I was stupid.
In the NHS job I just left I loved what I did because I got to design and make stuff to support young people needing custom seating, standers, lying supports, integrated computer devices for communication and driving power bases. But unfortunately the department I worked for surprising to me made my life hell leading to me in the last two years wanting to give up on life which scared the life out of me and my wife. Basically long story short I was in the end forced out of my job after nearly 24 years in service. People say to me why did I not leave sooner but I was stuck in a routine and also never got any training even if I begged for it so wasn't keeping up with modern engineering. Until a new member of staff started an helped me get a free CAD licence and then had an amazing tool that kept my brain entertained, plus I was learning at a incredible speed and hugely helped on my communication because I could speak in pictures. This greatly increase my conference in myself and that then rippled of into me caring on self learning on my practical side such as tig welding steel and then ally welding which is very tricky. Then basically I was showing up every one else which was not my intention and I they told me I was showing off but I just wanted them to like me because I could do stuff. This went on and as said having to leave because they would try and get me to trip up all the time and also constantly saying moments under there breathe so I could hear and there fore struggled to concentrate.
Has anyone else been in this situation and I need help because even though I have now found a really nice local company that have offered me a job in design engineering I struggle in my head with the injustice of this all. It is not helpful in my marriage as it is not fair on my wife.
Has anyone had any good experience with a no win no fee layer who can help or basically someone who can offer advice how to get over this.
I would be hugely grateful for any feedback,
Kind regards,
James
I hate to break this to you but you generally can’t get a no-win no fee lawyer for discrimination cases. I have been actively campaigning to change the rules on this. On the other hand you would probably go to employment tribunal not a court. It’s a bit less formal and was designed to be the kind of thing you can do without a lawyer. But because the sums of money involved can be quite large and because employment tribunals have grown increasingly complex over the years my understanding is that a lot of people like to have lawyers for them.
so one thing you really need to consider carefully is the time limit as there is a fairly short time limit on discrimination cases in employment tribunals. as I recall it’s about three months.
if you want to go down this road you should probably consult a lawyer quickly. While you probably won’t get a no-win no fee lawyer a lot of them will give free consultations. Employment discrimination is a common enough area that you will not have difficulty finding a lawyer who works in that area.
if you just look for employment lawyers in general you’ll find a few and the National autistic Society keeps a list I believe