is this discrimination

cazziebo

QuackQuackOops wrote: »

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.

i'm also hearing impaired and I know that it can seem that I have selective hearing. The kind of deafness I have means that there are certain tones I can't hear - it's not about volume. I find it difficult to hear new or strong accents, if there is background noise, or if the person doesn't articulate their words well. My biggest problem is with my husband who is broad Glaswegian and hardly moves his lips to speak.

Hearing aids only make a slight difference for me. (although the audiologist told me as my hearing deteriorates I'll find them more effective - great!)

I don't think this will be a case of victimisation or discrimination, just a lack of understanding. The employee has every right to raise the issue, I hope it will be handled sensitively by all parties.

usefulmale

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.

Hearing aids don't work like spectacles, which usually restore 20/20 vision to those that wear them.

Hearing aids only give a 20% or so boost, depending on aid and/or what the cause of the hearing problems are.

I have a 70% loss in each ear, so even with aids, I still only have half the hearing of a 'normal' person.

Errata

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.

Why not 'tell' your company to give deaf awareness training to all staff, including you.

getmore4less

Read the post guys,

The last line is the important one

The hearing thing is not the real issue, looks to me it is the only thing the OP thinks they use as some deflecting tactic from the real issues.

Takeaway_Addict

getmore4less wrote: »

Read the post guys,

The last line is the important one

The hearing thing is not the real issue, looks to me it is the only thing the OP thinks they use as some deflecting tactic from the real issues.

Maybe but we can only go on the information provided.

Savvy_Sue

It is of course possible that the OP can't hear this person as well as they can hear other people. Some people are just easier to hear than others!

theoretica

It is quite common for the higher frequencies to be most affected in age related hearing loss which can make female voices, especially high ones, much harder to hear or understand than male. We obviously don't know the details of the OPs hearing loss, nor is the sex of the complainer mentioned, but this is a common example of some people being harder to hear than others.

tommyhillfinger

getmore4less wrote: »

Read the post guys,

The last line is the important one

The hearing thing is not the real issue, looks to me it is the only thing the OP thinks they use as some deflecting tactic from the real issues.

if i understand your post then i think you are correct.

for instance very often this person will refer to a discussion where they asked to leave early or do something different.
when i tell them i have no recollection of any discussion they will say that they came up behind me and asked if they could leave early. when i ask them what i said they will say i did not turn around or acknowledge their request because they thought i was in a "mood" but took the lack of acknowledgement as agreement.

Concerning hearing loss, as mentioned it is not as simple a thing to deal with as wearing glasses for being short sighted.

i have severe low frequency deafness, which leads to a dramatic lack of clarity, the best i can describe is would be like to trying to listen under water. i know there is sound but i don't know what the sound is or which direction it is coming from.

the specialist who checks my hearing explains that the hearing aid can only increase the volume of the sound, it cannot help you to understand the sound as that is all done in the brain well after the ears have picked up the sound.

hence if i can see your face i can tell if you are speaking to me.
from there i can lip read and concentrate on listening to to what you are saying as these are all functions dealt with at the brain level as opposed to the audio level.

TBagpuss

Is it possible to put together sa memo to go to our collegues / people who are junior to you which sets out, expicitly, what is needed.

This would make it harder for this individual to try to use your hearing loss as an excuse for leaving early, claiming that you are picking on them.

The memo could include reminders that you cannot generally hear someone behind you, that there may be variations in what you pick up on, depending on background noise, whether you are having another conversation etc.

It could also specify that if someone does not get a response they should assume that you did not hear, and that they need to attract you attention and speak again.

It would not hurt to have other staff reminded of these provisions, and having a paper trail may be more effective than you verbally explaining to them, as it seems that they are either ignoring, forgetting, or not believing you.

Do you have a manager or HR person who could send the memo so that it is more 'official' and less of a personal issue between you and this one coworker?