Stuttering at work and being made fun of by co-workers.
Content
Stuttering at work and being made fun of by co-workers. I work for a, supposedly, professional company. I took a job as an executive's administrative assistant; they told me upfront I would have to cover an hour of the secretary's lunch break every day. I figured I could struggle through the hour. What they didn't tell me, however, is that the secretary apparently loathes her job, and calls in sick at least once a week...and during those sick days, I have to cover the phones for about 5 hours. Additionally, any time "the whole office" closes at 2:30, I still have to stay until 5, answering the phones (despite not being able to transfer anyone because everyone is gone). My stutter was severe for a long time. I was in speech therapy for 12 years. It's just moderate, now. I "cured" myself of severe stuttering by developing a tic, usually a tongue click, but frequently an actual, bodily jerk that I can't quite describe. The kicker is that I can't say my company's name without stuttering through the second half, and my stuttering is now in the form of total blocks. I can't usually say "hi" or "hello"; "good morning/afternoon" is often the only thing I can say, and that's after a one or two-second block. I can't say my own name, which is embarrassing, and I usually have to preface with "it's, it's" and then a pause, before I can get out my name. At Starbucks, I just use a childhood nickname that I CAN say, for whatever reason. A lot of people I'm not terribly close with only know me by this nickname. Several co-workers have made comments of this vein: "what the hell is wrong with you/what the hell are you doing?", "did you just have a seizure?", "do you not know your own name?", "did you forget where you work?", etc. Today, a lovely woman on the phone said, "wow, that must have been embarrassing! Sounds like you need to go home for the day!". I've brought this up to HR, and nothing was done. Is a stutter covered by the Disability act? Can I be fired for not wanting to have this much phone time, or for not being able to answer the phones well?