dazed and confused

1DayAAT

hello

i will try and keep this as simple/brief as i can but am having a biiiiiig problem at work and don't know where to turn or where i stand.

i am diagnosed with autism which affects quite a lot of my life, but have managed to find a job where i have been 3.5 years that allows me on the whole to manage it very well and very few people would have an indication of there being anything 'wrong' with me on the whole. however i do struggle from time to times with bouts of severe depression and anxiety and panic attacks when things get a bit overwhelming.

my employers are fully aware of my diagnosis and have had my doctors reports, certificates, info about my medication etc, along the way - i am very open and frank about the condition because i think it helps promote awareness and reduce stigma for the greater good of all people on the autism spectrum.

however one of my colleagues is making my working environment incredibly hostile and i have recently found out that he regularly sends extremely negative emails about me to our manager (saying things that my condition is "contrived" and that i am a "dead weight" - but I do my job excellently at all times and am highly praised at work! -) It also seems to me that my manager must be telling my colleagues a LOT of personal info about me because for example my doctor recently advised that I reduced my hours for 2 weeks because I was having very severe physical anxiety. So my line manager let me have 1 day a week off unpaid, but the details of this got back to my colleague who also then wrote an email saying that he thought I was lying about going to the Dr/needing the reduced time? (i had not mentioned it to my colleagues at all)

I am very confused as I have never personally disclosed my Autism to my colleagues - I did want to do this a while ago but my manager said he did not think it was a good idea. But he obviously has told him about it and a lot more.

1. Is my line manager out of order for telling them such personal stuff about me (also stuff about my pay - I know about all this via seeing an email written about me which was left open on our shared computer)

2. I feel like I am being sidelined due to my disability and have a long timeline of many things that have concerned me, would it be a good idea to take legal advice? I feel absolutely horrible and like I can trust nobody. My line manager has always been nice to my face and seemed supportive. Surely there is some kind of privacy law about discussing my personal affairs with my colleagues, especially if they invoke such negativity towards me
What should I do ?:(

atolaas

If your line manager has told your colleague about your autism...that is INCREDIBLY unprofessional and wrong!! Especially when they have advised you not to disclose your autism to your colleagues. Contact the National Autistic Society http://www.autism.org.uk/working-with.aspx
they will be able to advise you. Good luck!

Poppie68

You start off saying you have been open and frank about your condition etc, then say you haven't disclosed it to your work colleagues?
Anyway.....your manager has no right to discuss you to the level you seem to believe he has with another employee who is not in a position of need to know. If you believe he has you need to either make a complaint, if you don't feel that is an option you can speak to the manager in question and let them know you have seen the email and that you don't appreciate your private business being discussed with other employees.
If you feel you are being discriminated against because of your condition you need to put in a greviance.