is this discrimination

tommyhillfinger

Hello.

posting under a diff account for reasons of privacy.
i have been at my place of work for 3 years now and there has been an ongoing situation with another member of staff (junior to me).

they have recently made a complaint where they say they feel that i intimidate or undermine them and give an example that

he (thats me) will often refuse to acknowledge my presence when speaking to him, he will often not turn to face me and then claim that he was not able to hear me.
He dost seem to have any issues hearing any other members of staff.

my company is well aware that i wear hearing aids in both ears.
i have repeatedly told this member of staff that they cannot talk to the back of my head and that i must be able to see their face.

we work in an open office which has a lot of background noise which dosnt help.

i have told my company that i feel the comment is under hand and in very poor taste. They dont want to get involved at all.

this is part of a bigger case that i cant go into at this time.

Cheers.

PenguinOfDeath

I don't see how it's discrimination, ignorance on his part, yes.

So if he's made a complaint what are the company looking to do about it? Surely company procedure means they can't just 'not get involved'?

Undervalued

If you can prove that the person know of your disability then, arguably, you have a valid complaint to make about him!

As yet the company has done nothing wrong. A complaint has been made and they are looking into it. Providing they do this fairly and listen to both sides that is all you can expect.

Takeaway_Addict

tommyhillfinger wrote: »

Hello.

posting under a diff account for reasons of privacy.
i have been at my place of work for 3 years now and there has been an ongoing situation with another member of staff (junior to me).

they have recently made a complaint where they say they feel that i intimidate or undermine them and give an example that

he (thats me) will often refuse to acknowledge my presence when speaking to him, he will often not turn to face me and then claim that he was not able to hear me.
He dost seem to have any issues hearing any other members of staff.

my company is well aware that i wear hearing aids in both ears.
i have repeatedly told this member of staff that they cannot talk to the back of my head and that i must be able to see their face.

we work in an open office which has a lot of background noise which dosnt help.

i have told my company that i feel the comment is under hand and in very poor taste. They dont want to get involved at all.

this is part of a bigger case that i cant go into at this time.

Cheers.

Not in the slightest, why would you think it is? A member of staff has made a complaint, the employer needs to investigate it and you all need to come to an amicable solution.

Maybe you need to pay more attention to this colleague as much as they need to pay attentions to you?

PasturesNew

Your company might be aware of your hearing aids, but it's possible that he doesn't, or doesn't understand how that affects what you can hear. If I knew somebody wore hearing aids I'd still think/expect that they could now hear what I hear.

agrinnall

PasturesNew wrote: »

Your company might be aware of your hearing aids, but it's possible that he doesn't, or doesn't understand how that affects what you can hear. If I knew somebody wore hearing aids I'd still think/expect that they could now hear what I hear.

But the OP says:

tommyhillfinger wrote: »

i have repeatedly told this member of staff that they cannot talk to the back of my head and that i must be able to see their face.

If they are not doing that then a complaint that they are being ignored seems either frivolous or vexatious.

Wyndham

I work with someone who is partially deaf. I know that if I am speaking to her, it is better if she can see my face, and in particular if she can see my lips as she can lip read. I know I need to make sure I have her attention before I start speaking, and that sometimes she doesn't hear me.

She wears hearing aids, and while they help, they don't mean she has "full" hearing. I established this when there was a fire alarm, and she couldn't hear it while it I was being deafened by it.

But, of course, I try to be nice to people and don't mind doing this as I know she isn't doing it on purpose. OP, are you sure the other member of staff knows about your disability? And, (sorry to ask this) but are you open about it? I know and understand the need to be 'normal', but sometimes it's actually more helpful to acknowledge who you are, whatever that may be.

(And I don't see out of one eye, so I do know what I'm talking about, I'm not meaning to be unkind as I've had it all in the past!)

QuackQuackOops

tommyhillfinger wrote: »

Hello.

posting under a diff account for reasons of privacy.
i have been at my place of work for 3 years now and there has been an ongoing situation with another member of staff (junior to me).

they have recently made a complaint where they say they feel that i intimidate or undermine them and give an example that

he (thats me) will often refuse to acknowledge my presence when speaking to him, he will often not turn to face me and then claim that he was not able to hear me.
He dost seem to have any issues hearing any other members of staff.

my company is well aware that i wear hearing aids in both ears.
i have repeatedly told this member of staff that they cannot talk to the back of my head and that i must be able to see their face.

we work in an open office which has a lot of background noise which dosnt help.

i have told my company that i feel the comment is under hand and in very poor taste. They dont want to get involved at all.

this is part of a bigger case that i cant go into at this time.

Cheers.

No. It isn't discrimination.

The problem that your colleague might have is that yes, he understands that you need to see his face yet he might constantly see you acknowledging other members of staff without you seeing their faces and so he feels you are being 'selective' in who and what you hear.

From an outsiders view only reading what you have said, it appears you have a problem with the other guy and you feel he rubs you up the wrong way.
Six of one and half a dozen of the other but in all fairness, if he feels you ignore him on purpose based on evidence hes collected, he has a right to complain about it.

Perhaps you need to get new hearing aids if they are not working properly.

bazzyb

QuackQuackOops wrote: »

Perhaps you need to get new hearing aids if they are not working properly.

Wow. How ignorant! The clue is in the name, hearing aid - an aid is not a cure. They will help people to hear better to varying degrees, they are unlikely to give anybody crystal clear hearing.

If you saw somebody walking slowly with a stick, would you tell them their stick isn't working properly because they don't walk as fast as you do?

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

I wear hearing aids at work. I also endure that those round me understand that I wear hearing aids.

If some igniranus twit thinks better. I pretend to not hear then suddenly retort something they had horse whispered.

Their red face matches my usual retort of. Best yor get a decent punch first. You'll not get a second chance!

QuackQuackOops

bazzyb wrote: »

Wow. How ignorant! The clue is in the name, hearing aid - an aid is not a cure. They will help people to hear better to varying degrees, they are unlikely to give anybody crystal clear hearing.

If you saw somebody walking slowly with a stick, would you tell them their stick isn't working properly because they don't walk as fast as you do?

What an absolutely ridiculous comparison.
In the op, he tells us what the complainer said and he said "He doesn't appear to have problems hearing other people".
So I said, perhaps the other guy feels that he is 'selecting' not to hear him and feels it is rude of him as he can clearly hear other people.

I made a tongue in cheek comment about hearing aids causing 'selective hearing', as I am deaf too and often make the joke of 'I can choose who I hear'.

If I 'heard' the majority of people and turned to face them and talk to them but then always 'couldn't hear' one particular person and never turned to face them, I am sure that person would soon start to feel upset.

If that happened in the workplace, then the other person has every right to complain.
It may well be a misunderstanding, but it does not take away the guys right to complain when he perceives victimisation in any form.