Taking a Stand Against Discrimination

What happened to me in the workplace has forever changed my life.

I worked for eighteen years as a Licensed Pharmacy Technician Supervisor for a major company that I’ll refer to as “Big X.” I was an exemplary employee with positive reviews each of those eighteen years to prove it. I was on the safety committee, planned the annual holiday party and ran all community fundraisers.

In 2007 things slowly started to change as young managers were brought in to “weed out” the highest paid employees.  All of a sudden the workplace became a hostile environment.  I was publicly ridiculed, sexually harassed and written up for having a chair on-site to sit in periodically (even though I had a doctor’s note saying that it was needed). My work schedule of ten years was also changed, leaving me to close at night.

Since I was truly miserable at that point, I decided to report these problems to corporate management and was reassured by them that the company treasured their “seasoned” employees.  Shortly thereafter, my purchasing history was officially investigated and I was even accused of not having paid my $5 co-pays!  Although these were bogus charges and were dropped, I was devastated.  A short time later I went out on stress leave and eventually filed a lawsuit.

It took three long years and lots of information gathering before we finally went to trial, suing for age discrimination, disability discrimination, harassment and retaliation.  Big X refused to settle and the trial lasted three weeks.  Again my reputation was called into question along with my mental state, as the Big X lawyers tried to paint me as a manic schizophrenic who’d over-reacted to the store’s accusations.  While Big X won the case, it cost them over $900,000 in legal fees to defend their stance.

I thought I would work there forever, which was naïve. I lost my job, my insurance, all of my 401k, my home and even my car.  I am slowly getting back on my feet.  I'm not working, but thankfully I have kids who can help me a bit. I won't appeal the case as I don't want to go through that again.  I would eventually love to become an advocate for baby boomers and travel around speaking with companies on how to prevent this from happening.

Note: Denise lost her case against Big X, but because she challenged their unfair and illegal practices, managers at  Big X will likely think twice before treating other employees the same way.  Like other courageous women who stand up to unfair treatment, Denise has certainly improved policies for women and older employees at her workplace, and in her industry.

Do you have a story about taking on injustice in the workplace?  Share it with 9to5 and other working women!