Deaf new hire struggles with basic tasks — then calls her disability rep on coworkers for not accommodating her

Inclusivity calls for being open-minded and patient while working with those who have disabilities or other conditions. An employee at a satellite laboratory, going by the username u/sadkitti, revealed in a post how they were trying to be supportive of a new worker with a hearing impairment. In the post shared on January 24, they mentioned how nothing seemed to work, and even one month into the job, the employee wasn’t able to cope. As a result, she decided to call her disability rep on them and claimed they weren’t assisting or providing enough help and instructions for her to adapt. 

The employee revealed that things were great for them as a group of four before the woman joined. She became the fifth member of the department, and the workers soon learned she uses a hearing aid device. “The four of us have been trying our best to train up our new colleague, but she seems incapable of following both verbal and written instructions,” the post read. Day by day, the training grew more burdensome for the employees. “This woman can’t even follow along with her own notes. Yesterday, I had to sit with her for 10 minutes explaining how to open a new tab on her internet browser,” they revealed. 

While they were inclusive and understanding of the fact that they might need to be more patient with her hearing, her lack of skill and basic understanding became a concern. “We are completely blindsided by her lack of understanding of computers,” they wrote, adding that because of their non-negotiable need to use software, there’s no alternative to using a computer. When she completed a month at her new workplace, the employee still couldn’t follow instructions despite having everything written down and receiving assistance from one of the employees at all times. However, the woman blamed her lack of progress on her coworkers. “She has called her disability rep more than once to complain that we are moving too quickly for her and she is not receiving proper accommodations,” the post revealed. 

Furthermore, she even complains about one or the other employee every single day. According to a study by the University of Illinois, co-author and assistant professor Siddharth K. Upadhyay revealed that workers with disabilities are not necessarily incompetent in their performance compared to other employees. “The data offer little support for the idea that employees with disabilities struggle more to meet job demands than their non-disabled counterparts,” the professor noted. He added that it is often the pay, accommodations, and other factors that might be a cause of the gap. A 2024 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that for people between 16 and 64 years with a disability, the employment-population ratio was around 37.4%. Although there has been a slight increase, there are many still struggling and suffering.

The report pointed out that when it came to unemployment for people with disabilities, the percentage was double compared to individuals without disabilities. However, in this case, it was hard to tell whether the worker was misusing her impairment or not. The coworkers were left confused, wondering how to manage the situation. A majority of the internet claims that she is taking them for a ride by not doing her job. u/Lawfulnessremote7121 wrote, “Retired now, but I worked in a laboratory with a deaf coworker for a while. She never required any special accommodations, other than that she wasn’t required to answer the phone. It sounds more like your coworker is not capable of doing the job and is using her disability as an excuse.” u/coushaine added, "She has the right to reasonable accommodations to do her job. However, she still needs to do her job. You need to bring these issues to your boss."

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