I can’t seem to find much more detail on this particular story outside of the article, but it reminds me of that other lawsuit where a woman sued McDonald’s because the coffee was “too hot”. Of course everyone dogged on this person because “hurr hurr Karen of course coffee is hot”, but it turned out the beverage was boiling and she actually suffered second and third degree burns. This context was left out of the initial reporting, and because of that she was harassed and mocked.
I suspect that this might be the same case here so I think I might reserve judgement before assuming she’s lazy, or greedy / stupid for suing.
Also, I’ve been in a situation where I was alienated and constantly looking for work. It’s not as fun as it sounds, and going through that experience for 20 years feels like a nightmare to me.
The woman’s skin fused together, and her initial claim was only to cover medical expenses. MDs faafo in court and she was then awarded further damages. The PR blitz to paint her as unreasonable and “sue happy” was just vindictive in their part, and unfortunately effective.
Not only did the coffee case a fused labia, MD had already been warned several times about their coffee being served too hot. This was a repeat offence, and the courts thew the book at them.
And MD decided it was cheaper to serve too hot coffee then buy better insulated cups and reduce the temp. They were trying to fix the problem of the coffee being cold by the time people got to work.
For a second before my reading comprehension kicked in I thought the she you were referring to was the original 20 years underutilized lady not the coffee lady.
She says, “Being paid, at home, not working is not a privilege. It’s very hard to bear.”
She was paid to stay home for 10 years. I mean that sucks for Career advancement, but also find a second job and enjoy the bonus cash
The key issue wasn’t money, its that this company pushed a disabled person off to the side and hoped she would just leave. Getting paid to do nothing seems great but gets old fast, especially if you have to be accessible through a company computer. You are stuck at home monitoring a company devise for hours on the off chance some messages you. In addition to this, there is no hope of a promotion because you have no work to be promoted for.
Sounds like they didn’t bother to do that though. And I have been in a situation where you are ‘on call’ like this, since you have to be ‘at work’ and are getting paid, you just work with it. I’d cook dinner, with laptop in kitchen. Or you setup a movie on another machine and mute your mic, or read a book, fold laundry, play with the kids, setup email and phone forwarding etc.
Also there is no guarantees that work gets promotion. And you don’t wait 10 years, you get a lawyer the first year and sue for constructive dismissal
Got paid, no work, don’t even have to go to office?
It’s hard to see someone living my dream 😞
That would be a dream come true for me. Free time to pursue my own hobbies. I don’t need to rely on some office full of cunts for external validation or socialization when I can find proper weirdos elsewhere.
I mean I would not trust such a job would last twenty years. I mean it would be great if I had a 20 year no work contract.
Yeah, but I wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, either
Where does someone get one of these “paid for nothing, be invisible” jobs?
Much like any way to get ahead in capitalism: pure unadulterated luck.
I had one of these jobs for about three months, they sound better than they really are. You spend 8 hours monitoring your company issued laptop for random messages from your boss. You can’t do anything that takes you away from that device. After a while you run out of shows to stream and video games to play, or you become depressed and loose interest.
I thought about joining an online D&D game but I would still get pulled into random teams meeting where in wouldn’t say or do anything, so I couldn’t commit to 4 hours uninterrupted.
Company got bought out. There were so many managers and ppl that they couldn’t follow who was actually doing what. After being given busy work for a month. After I finished it, i was then told to monitor my busy work until I was told otherwise. They forgot about me.
I got so bored. I made friends with the janitors. I learned if you parked in a certain area you could leave without being seen. For the next 6 months I would clock in, say hi to a bunch of ppl while avoiding management, and leave to meet up with friends or do whatever, until lunch where I’d socialize(my alibi). I’d spend the next 4 hours reading, learning, on my phone and walking around the office looking at who might need a break and willing to talk.
Unfortunately, I had to leave for a higher paying job. When I left, the manager gave me a glowing recommendation letter. They had no idea what I did, but nothing ever broke so I must have been doing my job.
she literally could have switched jobs at any time. why wait 20 to get all lawsuit-y? and thats ignoring the obvious, 'why didnt you go get another ‘temp’ job if youre so bored?
Boredom is a personal problem. The sum of all human knowledge and entertainment is in every pocket. If that fails, read or, god forbid, write.
Now the article does suggest she’s not the most proactive of people. After the first 10 years of this she filed a complaint.
When that didn’t go anywhere after another 10 years she sues them.
Wild. Should’ve picked up a second job if it was so hard to bear a job that paid you but didn’t give you work to do
I’m probably one of the few commentors who has some direct experience with her situation (epilepsy and neurological condition). Not me personally but a family member.
On the one hand, I empathize because it is frustrating to feel useless and incapable. It’s not just a work thing, that kind of condition makes every aspect of life difficult.
On the other, I have a hard time giving her 100% benefit of the doubt. In my experience, some people are not aware of their specific limitations, or don’t respect them. This can lead to dangerous situations and other negative outcomes.
I can only assume French Labour laws and a degree of compassion is why they chose to keep her on payroll.
I don’t consider her lucky. The people scoffing at her situation are representing themselves poorly.
In my experience, some people are not aware of their specific limitations, or don’t respect them. This can lead to dangerous situations and other negative outcomes.
I mean she’s an office worker, trained in human resources though pigeon-holed as a secretary. I don’t understand what could possibly be dangerous for her?
Epilepsy is inherently dangerous condition to have. If you have a seizure, and nobody is around, you could hit your head and die before anyone helps you. Or you could be injured by your environment or objects in your possession.
Seizures also have what’s called a postictal phase, which essentially lingering side effects that vary greatly from person to person.
The danger that this individual bears some responsibility to mitigate manifests when there is gap between the knowledge/expectations of co-workers and the intentions of the individual. I would not be surprised if her determination to push her limits has resulted in medical incidents that could have been avoided.
I would not be surprised if her determination to push her limits has resulted in medical incidents that could have been avoided.
Did you even read the article?
I don’t understand what could possibly be dangerous for her?
Fuck you. Clearly I’m one of the few people who did based on the other comments.
What a fucking asshole you are.
I just think you’re making a lot of baseless assumptions about a person when you don’t have any facts to back up your claims.
