Dealing with a new employee's allergy....

[Guest]

My office recently hired a new employee who is allergic to shellfish and similar products. She will have what is called an anaphylactic shock if she is anywhere near things like shrimp, crab, etc. Claims that she shouldn't even smell it.

 

On her first day here, she sent a company-wide Email letting us know that she has this allergen and that we are no longer allowed to bring any shellfish into the building. (Yes, it was termed exactly as I just wrote it.) She has managed to more or less alienate nearly everyone in the building just from this Email alone, but wait! - there's more.

 

A second Email was then sent stating that not only were we not allowed to have shellfish in the building, but we also couldn't bring in any products that had shellfish *in* them (say, a shrimp salad sub), cooked or not. Says that it will cause her to have a shock. I can and do understand about cooking the stuff in the microwave - that's obviously a no-no - but she's going to be able to smell a COLD shrimp salad sub? On a different floor, no less?

 

Almost everyone in the building complained to the owner, but the owner says that this new employee is protected by the A.D.A. and therefore we can do nothing but follow her instructions. Everyone is extremely resentful of this woman, not because of her allergen (we all understand that), but because of her high-handed attitude when she walked in here. This is a very small company (70 employees total) and very tight-knit as well (everyone pretty much knows everyone else), so it doesn't come off well when a relatively new employee walks in here and starts immediately saying, "This is the way it's going to be, or else."

 

Now she's walking around, not quite understanding why people don't speak to her here. Should I try and explain the reason why people aren't talking to her? Should I just leave the whole thing alone? I do feel kind of sorry for her - she looks so sad and lonely a lot of the time - but in a way, I totally understand my fellow coworkers' anger.

 

Advice appreciated. Thanks.

[Curmudgeon]

You might be doing her a kindness to gently explain the others' resentments. On the other hand, given her high-handedness, you might also open yourself to a grievance for harassment and lack of reasonable accomodation. I think this is better left in the hands of management who should ask for medical proof of her condition and an assessment of her sensitivity level and reasonably adjust accomodation from there. They're the ones who should have sent out any necessary memo in the first place.

 

I've never heard of an iodine sensitivity (the usual with seafood) being triggered by smell alone. I thought it took ingestion. As employees, I'd collectively demand proof, and I'm a manager.

[Guest]

My office recently hired a new employee who is allergic to shellfish and similar products. She will have what is called an anaphylactic shock if she is anywhere near things like shrimp, crab, etc. Claims that she shouldn't even smell it.]

 

One of my friends is like that. It must be terrifying to try to live in a world where just a few molecules of something in the air are a deadly danger.

 

On her first day here, she sent a company-wide Email letting us know that she has this allergen and that we are no longer allowed to bring any shellfish into the building.

 

Well, that memo should have come from management. But I've had managers that got me to draft and send things they should have sent. So before you judge her, perhaps you might find out what actually happened?

 

but she's going to be able to smell a COLD shrimp salad sub? On a different floor, no less?

 

What is smell? It's not pure air. It's small droplets or particles from the food entering the air. So it's highly possible that they could get in the ventilation system and to her.

[littlekitty]

Totally agree. The memo should have come from HR/Management and not from herself.

 

Check out the validity of the 'smell' reaction and then let management know about the issue. They need to try to rescue the situation.

[Guest]

Thanks for the replies so far.

 

I went to HR (in this case, it's pretty much one woman - this company is very small, it's a non-profit), and she more or less repeated what the owner said - this employee is protected by the A.D.A. because the allergen is "life-threatening".

 

However, HR didn't have much to say when I pointed out that our building is right next to a seafood and fish restaurant. Wonder what's gonna happen come July and the windows are open? Although it doesn't seem like a serious issue now in March, our building is NOT air conditioned. When July and August roll around, a lot of us are deathly afraid that this woman's going to tell us that she can't have the windows open - this is going to amount to sheer torture.

 

I'll be honest in that I'm really tempted to bring a shrimp salad sub to work, but I'm afraid of what could happen here - what if she's telling the truth? Then I'd be in major, major trouble for 1. bringing an item that we pretty much were warned not to bring in and 2. I could lay myself and my company open to an A.D.A. lawsuit.

 

She does have proof from a doctor stating that she has the allergen, but as far as smelling it, I don't know about that, nor do I know if HR necessarily has proof that just the scent of the stuff will cause her to go into a shock or what. Apparently this note from her doctor is all that they're prepared to accept. Suckage, really.

 

At this point, I'm tempted to drop it, except for the "open windows" issue in the summer. Seriously, what are we going to do if we're told that the windows have to stay closed? We're all going to sweat to death!

 

I'd rather deal with this issue now while there's still time to do something about it. By June, it'll be too damned late.

 

I don't honestly think this woman knows just how people feel about this issue. And it's really hard to say anything, because this whole thing makes it seem as if we're blaming her for having an allergy (which is ridiculous - we know it's not her fault). Unfortunately, I do think she's the type who will overreact if someone brings the issue up (i.e., she'll get defensive).

 

I just don't know how to handle it at this point. HR is sympathetic but, in the end, unhelpful. She's got the law on her side here and in their eyes, that's all that matters.

[littlekitty]

I can't be sure... but this does seem to suggest it may be possible that smelling such foods could be a problem:

 

Fish Allergy

It is estimated that about 22 percent of all populations suffer from a fish allergy. The fish commonly known to cause allergic reactions include cod, salmon, trout, herring, sardines, bass, orange roughy, swordfish, halibut, and tuna.

 

Severe asthmatic attacks can be triggered by the smell of fish in a sensitive person. Even anaphylactic shock has been reported after eating foods cooked in reused cooking oil, or when utensils and containers have been used earlier for cooking fish.

 

Shellfish Allergy

The shellfish commonly known to cause allergic reactions include shrimp, crab, crayfish, lobster, oysters, clams, scallops, mussels, squid, and snails.

 

Shrimp is usually associated with seafood allergies. Those allergic to shrimp often suffer from respiratory allergy. Crab is also a potent allergen. Shrimp, lobster, and crawfish contain common major allergens, making cross reactivity between shrimp and crab, and lobster and crawfish possible.

 

However, if you don't have air conditioning, in the hot summer the lack of fresh air may well cause your company another problem... in the UK there are Employment Laws which govern the temp at which we are expected to work. Anything above or below certain limits is illegal. So you might want to google that and provide details to your HR/Management that you foresee a possible issue.

 

Sorry I can't be more help... !

[Art_Critic]

She's got the law on her side here and in their eyes, that's all that matters.

 

I don't believe that is the case..

 

Management must want her to work there or otherwise they would've gotten rid of her already.

 

You can rid of anybody you want and any time.. As an employer myself I know that to be the truth..

I know in my state there is a 90 day period where the empoyer just has to say.. Sorry but it didn't work out.

but even if they don't have a 90 day breakin period .. they still can just get rid of her..

 

It seems to me that only part of the story is coming out.. One employee CANNOT dictate what other employees can bring to work for lunch.. Lunchtime is not a paid time and therefore is not governed by the company.

 

Lunchtime is OWNED by the employee not the company and therefore they can't tell the employee how too spend their time or what to eat..

 

This story is not believable to me

[littlekitty]

You could be right A_C!! ALthough she does say it's a small company with only one person in HR. Perhaps the person they have had interrept the law hasn't done so correctly?

 

Interesting none the less that smell can induce toxic shock!

[whichwayisup]

our building is NOT air conditioned. When July and August roll around, a lot of us are deathly afraid that this woman's going to tell us that she can't have the windows open - this is going to amount to sheer torture.

Maybe that will be the push for management to get Air Conditioning for the building.

 

It's the same with Peanut butter, people can SMELL it and go into shock and have an awful reaction.

 

I do agree, this woman has handled the whole thing badly from day one. Instead of appologizing for the inconvienance and sympathizing with you all on how unfair it is going to be because of her allergy - She isolated herself by sending out an email and not talking to you all about it. She KNOWS that you all probably can't stand her and because of that, it feeds into why she is the way she is.

[Guest]

It seems to me that only part of the story is coming out.. One employee CANNOT dictate what other employees can bring to work for lunch.. Lunchtime is not a paid time and therefore is not governed by the company.

 

Lunchtime is OWNED by the employee not the company and therefore they can't tell the employee how too spend their time or what to eat..

 

It is their building, their premises, their property. And you know that people can dictate what happens on their property.

[Guest]

Well, an update, and it's all turned out well.

 

Someone else actually brought up the air-conditioning issue, and management is installing a brand new A/C and heating system in the next couple of weeks. This is more than welcome news, as we've been wanting one for a long time, and it will also help our employee with the allergen out in the summertime. I'm still not sure of how she's going to manage being near the restaurant (going in and out of the building), but that's her business....

 

I've made an effort to try and get her to relax with us - I've invited her to come out with a few of us during happy hour on Friday. She seemed really happy, so I'm glad for that. I think that things will settle down, over time. It was just an unfortunate way to start out, I think.

 

A couple of points I do want to address, however:

 

1 - Even if management wanted to fire her, they could not have used this reason to do so. The A.D.A. covers food allergens as disabilities (and no wonder - I know some who are allergic to wheat products, and whooboy, it's not pleasant if it's ingested accidentally), so management would have had to use a different reason to "get rid of her" - and there isn't any need to do so. She's an excellent worker. That wasn't the issue, nor were any of us trying to get her fired. The employees here just wanted to be sure that their rights were preserved as well as the new person's. This isn't wrong.

 

2 - No one was "judging" this woman for anything. Part of the issue was that she came in here and immediately started sending demanding Emails company-wide (including a portion of the employees who work all the way across town, who have absolutely nothing to do with the situation at all), saying, "This is the way it's going to be, because I say so." No, I'm sorry. This doesn't fly with any of us, nor should it. Most here are correct - this information should have come from management. If she had to Email us all herself, a nicer tone would have been appreciated, e.g., "I wanted to let everyone know of my allergen, it causes this to happen, etc. etc., here are emergency contacts for me, etc., etc." and so on. Not "I am allergic to shellfish, you can no longer bring items of this type into this building." That's high-handed and rude, especially as an "introduction". What are we supposed to think in a case like this?

 

3 - Indeed, apparently the allergen in question can be triggered by smell, which I didn't know. That's one positive thing that has come out of this situation, in that I've looked up information about this subject, and some of what's out there is quite interesting indeed. A lot of my coworkers are starting to understand a little more about what causes this problem, and in turn they're a lot more sympathetic.

 

I think this whole situation is going to turn out all right, but it was certainly a learning experience, for all of us.

 

Thanks for the advice. We'll be sitting here cool in the summer now, anyway!

[Guest]

A lot of my coworkers are starting to understand a little more about what causes this problem, and in turn they're a lot more sympathetic.

 

This is true of almost everything in life. If only people would make the effort to understand first...

[Art_Critic]

It is their building, their premises, their property. And you know that people can dictate what happens on their property.

 

Sure but not what an employee can or can't eat for lunch.. Duh

 

The laws work for both sides

[Art_Critic]

1 - Even if management wanted to fire her, they could not have used this reason to do so. The A.D.A. covers food allergens as disabilities (and no wonder - I know some who are allergic to wheat products, and whooboy, it's not pleasant if it's ingested accidentally), so management would have had to use a different reason to "get rid of her" - and there isn't any need to do so. She's an excellent worker. That wasn't the issue, nor were any of us trying to get her fired. The employees here just wanted to be sure that their rights were preserved as well as the new person's. This isn't wrong.

 

Glad it worked out..and it sounds like a benefit of AC is coming..

 

But as an employer myself if you want to get rid of an employee you don't have to give the REAL reason.. It could just be her perfromance or lack of

Most employers know how to ger rid of people without bringing a lawsuit toward the company

 

That being said.. and employer has to protect the safety of the workers they employ..but that could mean a seperate room for them to eat lunch in as well

[Guest]

Some new bitch in my office sent around an email saying that nobody can wear perfume or after shave anymore because she's allergic. I say take an f-ing allergy pill and shut the f*ck up. I'm not going to stop wearing perfume just because she showed up. F*ck her.

[BruiserKC]

Some new bitch in my office sent around an email saying that nobody can wear perfume or after shave anymore because she's allergic. I say take an f-ing allergy pill and shut the f*ck up. I'm not going to stop wearing perfume just because she showed up. F*ck her.

 

The right kind of perfume/cologne can trigger that type of reaction. I had a professor in college that broke out in hives when this one girl showed up in our class and she smelled like she just bathed at the Dillard's perfume counter. That is a bit different than an allergy to shellfish which is harder to smell.

[lindya]

Most employers know how to ger rid of people without bringing a lawsuit toward the company

 

If someone gets sacked, and that person happens to have a disability, then a competent employment lawyer will generally manage to get an action past the preliminary stages. You can guarantee that however much back-covering HR believe has been carried out, at some point something will have been said/done to the employee that can be presented in pleadings as having a tang of discrimination about it.

 

I think it would be more accurate to say most employers are lucky enough to have got rid of people without those people raising an action. In some cases I guess that employers are so keen to get rid of a person that they are willing to write off the expense of settling any subsequent action the person might raise.

[zarathustra]

The right kind of perfume/cologne can trigger that type of reaction. I had a professor in college that broke out in hives when this one girl showed up in our class and she smelled like she just bathed at the Dillard's perfume counter. That is a bit different than an allergy to shellfish which is harder to smell.

 

Chanel No 5 gives me migraines and so does anything strong (cheap ones usually fall under that category). Migraines happens almost immediately...Bad ones where the lights have to be turned off, I vomit and can't even keep water down.

 

Guest, I guess if you don't suffer from this kind of allergy, you won't know that an 'allergy' pill doesn't suffice.

 

Personally, I wouldn't send out an email myself, but would talk to my manager to send it out on my behalf that people wear office friendly scents. I've not had the need to do so in all my years of working, but have had problems in the mall with over-zealous people spritzing perfume at me while I'm shopping.

[HokeyReligions]

I've heard of some schools removing all peanut products from their campus and sending notes to the parents of all students requesting that their children not bring any food cooked in peanut oil or any food that contains peanuts because of a student with a severe allergy. Even the smell could cause a reaction. I've heard the same from others about shellfish.

 

Having nearly died myself from Anaphalyxis (no BP no pulse and a real out-of-body experience) and been in the ER twice for it, I understand the seriousness. If this is such a small company, then the person affliced should give everyone instruction in the proper use of her Epi pen and what to do should an emergency occur and what to look for.

 

I carry an Epi pen in case I have a reaction again -- we don't know what triggers mine -- and I have instructed those I work with in how to use it and what to do.

 

It should have been handled differently. I can understand in a way her thoughts though - if she is in the running for a position and she discloses her allergy before being hired, chances are that she might not get the job. Given a choice between two equally qualified people an employer is going to chose the one who doesn't have such a high risk factor.

 

In your place I would approach her and tell her that is why she seems to be so isolated from others, and perhaps offer her some business advice in sending talking with co-workers and apologizing for the abruptness of her email, and explain that she is scared for her life - and offer instructions on the use of her Epi pen. It might help ease some tensions and make everyone feel a little better. You might even ask her to get some information from her doctor that she can share with everyone so that they understand better the depth of the problem and her concerns.

[PuppyDogEyes]

Some new bitch in my office sent around an email saying that nobody can wear perfume or after shave anymore because she's allergic. I say take an f-ing allergy pill and shut the f*ck up. I'm not going to stop wearing perfume just because she showed up. F*ck her.

 

What a nice reaction. You must be a real pleasant person in the morning, especially before you drink your coffee. Sheesh.

 

I don't know about shellfish, but strong perfume and cologne are enough to make me feel a little queasy, too. I'm lucky that I don't have this type of a situation in my office, but I can see where the original poster would have been in a quandary about what to do.

 

OP, it's good that things were solved to everyone's satisfaction. I hope that your allergic employee has figured out a way to enter and exit the building safely - I must say that I'd be really, really uneasy about working next to a building where what causes an allergy to flare is so prevalent, but that's just me.

 

I must ask this: can you smell cold seafood? I'm eating a shrimp salad right now for lunch, and I can't even detect any type of "smell" at all. Maybe my nose is just numb from all of the strong perfume....

 

- pde.

[Guest]

Some new bitch in my office sent around an email saying that nobody can wear perfume or after shave anymore because she's allergic. I say take an f-ing allergy pill and shut the f*ck up. I'm not going to stop wearing perfume just because she showed up. F*ck her.

 

 

Some bitch I used to work with used to wear this disgusting perfume called 'Poison'. It made me itch and made my eyes water. I was working as a bartender at the time and it's hard to work when you're itching and your eyes water. The smell was so pungent it used to travel up my nose and stick in my throat..it was like I could taste it.

One day when I was a little bit queasy I threw up from smelling it.

Some of the customers complained about her wearing that perfume so strong. SI saytupid bitch. She just laughed. One lady said the perfume was so gross she couldn't eat her food.

[LisoPiso]

we had this at my old place of work...

 

but it was shell fish, and another was POULTRY!! no chicken or turkey or anything. it was a much larger company, with over 400 employees. so they had a the top floor where no one was allowed to have any shellfish, seafood, or poultry.

 

the other 4 floors you could eat whatever your little heart desires!

 

maybe talk to someone and see if something like that could be arranged.

 

best of luck to you and your situation.

[Marquis-de-Carabas]

Some new bitch in my office sent around an email saying that nobody can wear perfume or after shave anymore because she's allergic.

 

I can relate, some perfumes will throw me into an Asthma attack within a few minutes of smelling it. If a person bathes in the perfume, I'll have to go outside to get away from it. Perfume is supposed to be a scent to accent you, but not announce you (read: a little goes a long way)

 

As for the shellfish allergy, I do think that one of the issues is that this person did not inform others of certain aspects of this type of allergy. Heck, I didn't know people could be allergic to Mangoes until my son got this hideous rash on his face after eating one.

 

If someone emailed me and told me that even smelling shellfish would cause a reaction, I'd be mighty skeptical. But if that same person sent facts along with it, I'd be more informed and more understanding.