Question
My 19-year-old daughter works part-time as a fuel associate (gas station attendant) at one of our local grocery stores. She normally works 12 hours (3 4-hour shifts) a week. She is currently seeing a rheumatologist and has an initial diagnosis of joint hypermobility disorder. She has had chronic pain for approximately 4 years and the pain continually gets worse. She goes to see the rheumatologist again (3rd visit) in 2 weeks. We have a lot of questions for the doctor and want to confirm a diagnosis; possibly of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. In the meantime, the new manager has dropped her hours to 1 day per week because of a "call-off problem." She only calls off work if she is in extreme pain, to the point that she can't get out of bed and she lays in bed all day crying because of the excruciating pain. Somehow, this does not seem fair that she is being "penalized" for having a disability. She cannot control how she is going to feel from one day to the next. Another employee is out several times a year for weeks at a time (the employee has Cystic Fibrosis). That employee is not penalized for absenteeism. What can we (her doctor) do to communicate/educate management on her rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act? What protection does she have? (We live in Pennsylvania, which is a "right-to-work" state.)

Answer
Hi Melissa,

Sorry for the delayed response. This may be a question better suited for someone with legal expertise specifically in the HR/Disability field.

I would ask fellow expert Thomas Yancey

http://www.allexperts.com/ep/924-129059/Employment-Law/Yancey-Thomas-Jr.htm

I hope this helps.