Are aspies immune to being fired?

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I currently have a good job at a greenhouse with a high position. Some of the workers there have Aspergers (mostly borderline cases like me) but there was a casheir there who had it the real kind. The stereo type as people really see it, This person is good at his job but he is a jerk. He thinks having something will make him have some special privilages. I know some people take it as a "gift" but they dont brag about it. He thinks he can knock the trash over and make people pick it up, push a handycap person over for no reason, clog all the toilets, curse at the boss, make comments about my sister, spit on things etc. Even did this to a customer once. He will constantly blame the NT assistant cashiers. The worst part is the boss is afraid to firehim or anyone else and someone defends him saying things like he didn't understand his actions.

When he started saying things to me I politely asked him to stop but he didn't listen. What really set me off was when he called me a spaz for having a seizure at work. I couldn't sleep for 2 days after that withthe words in my head. I have to come in early as the head janitor and saw the trash he threw from the day before (enough to fill a can) and dumped it on his counter. When he came in he demanded me to clean it or get one of the janitors to do it. I said "Its on the counter and its your trash. You should clean a mess for once you rude f***". (followed by cursing and comments and rant about him ). He sat down and took it in for a minute and started crying uncontrollably and fell off the chair crying so hard. No one cared after about 5 minutes of watching everyone left the room. We could hear it through almost the entire building. Of course today he goes and acts really polite to everyone to try and earn their respect.
*The boss talked to this person today after this.
I also heard he has something else besides AS. (I pretty much figured it because people with it only aren't extremely rude)

Sounds like you aren't dealing with just someone with the condition...

You're dealing with a horrid human being with the condition.

You can not use Asperger's as a plausible defence for that sort of behaviour in my opinion.

There comes a point where you can not hide behind the diagnosis.

I think you did the right thing minus the cursing.

Sucks that he threw a tantrum afterwards but if that's what it takes for him to respect others, then that's what it takes.

And with regards to your question: I was fired from Chik-fil-a for being too "aloof and distant", fired from Wal-mart for breaking regulations in order to gather carts more efficiently, and fired from Sonic for caring more about customers who had been waiting for their order for over half an hour than the manager's buddies who got the wrong drink after only waiting five minutes. I would have been fired from Braum's for being basically too slow and methodical.

My Aspie traits are usually a hindrance to my quest to gain and maintain a job, so no I am not immune to firing THOUGH I do not tell them I have Asperger's so that I actually have a decent chance of gaining the job.

pfft. i wish. i have been fired for BS. it amazes me that people like that are able to remain employed, but polite, hard workers aren't.

Of course not. AS is in no way an excuse to be a total a-hole. He clearly needs the boot, but in the meantime, it would be wise to not do or say anything that would get you into hot water. If your immediate supervisor will not fire him, it may require complaints from your other coworkers or even customers if he is rude to them.

It sounds like he needs to be set straight or let go. Someone with actual leadership skills and a solid understanding of aspie issues needs to sit him down and lay it out.

Aspies niether should be, nor are, immune from firing.

Dont know why your coworker doesnt get fired.

(Atleast you rammed some sense into him).


But aspies definetly DO get fired. I guy I worked with whom the company knew was an aspie got fired. There is no federal law against it if thats what you're asking.

Im surprised you know so many people at your workplace are aspies. Were kinda few and far between.

What does you boss do about him? Does he ever take him aside and explain that his behaviour is unacceptable? He should at least be getting verbal warnings. No name calling and no spitting are basic rules which he should be able to adhere to.

To play devil's advocate, is it possible you mistook his lighthearted comments for insults? I ask because in his mind, maybe he thought he was joking around. As you're emotional about your seizures, you kind of sank to his level and had a tantrum with him. Maybe the whole garbage thing was his vengeance for what he saw as your misbehavior.

That said, I can't understand why he knocks people over and has tantrums at work. Is there more going on there that just AS?

As far as the boss, he probably sees the guy as mentally challenged, meaning he's afraid to fire him for fear of some discrimination lawsuit.

He sounds more like a jerk than just AS. Aspies can get fired and it's happened before. The boss may be too afraid to fire him because he is worried about a lawsuit. Some people with disabilities do abuse the ADA act. Another reason why places may not hire someone with a disability.

At work my autism gives me all of the special privileges that no one else had. At the hospital I practice medicine without a license and get away with it. I come to work anytime I want to because I am in a car pool and I am allowed the flex-time privilege. I get to drink coffee at the meetings when no one else is allowed to because coffee is a drink and not food. I get a desk and my own private office and not a cubicle even though I am not the boss because I am better than the boss. If I work overtime I get paid more than the Boss because he is on salary.

I don't understand the silly rules that hospitals have. Why is a combat medic allowed to perform surgery to allow a wounded man to breathe but a civilian emergency medical technician who has combat experience has to let a man die. I ask these EMT's how they can live with themselves after they see a man gargling in his own gore and they did nothing to save him because they wanted to keep their jobs and obey the silly rules.

Yes, I agree that being an Aspie does not make you immune to being fired.

Or quietly let go at the end of the contract, even when you have done the project very well.

What has happened, though, is that I have seen different managerial styles, and am better able to pick and choose the type of manager that I want to be, and how I want to treat my employees. That is one of the two upsides to the ordeal that has been the past three years of my life. The other upside was that by not staying on at jobs I found difficult, I eventually wound up at a place that I love.