I have struggled with a learning disability, mental illness, and a genetic disorder my whole entire life. Perhaps I was born with the learning disability and mental illness. Perhaps they came on due to a lifetime of extreme trauma, neglect, abuse, and suffering. Doesn't really matter why. What matters is that there are a bunch of folks who right now are exploiting those of us who cannot stand up for ourselves, because we are different, and regular folks allow it. Places like my former place of employment, SITE Santa Fe, a non-collecting, non-profit museum at the heart of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Just prior to leaving for a work trip to San Diego, for the 2022 Inclusion Conference, I was diagnosed with a herniated disk in my spine. I was also having other profound symptoms related to my then undiagnosed genetic condition - which I had kept from my bosses (Clara Samayoa and Louis Grachos) due to the fact I was working for really shitty people. Fear of being further excluded, maligned, and mistreated by my bosses kept me (their HR Manager) silent about my own desperate medical needs (more details to come). But the herniated disk my boss knew all about, because I had been taking a few hours off here and there to heal it up. I was suffering from the herniation because I was driving 3 hours to get to and from work 3-4 days a week. (More on this later.) Clara Samayoa, my unskilled and cruel boss, knew perfectly well about my injury, she also knew perfectly well that I have intense travel PTSD, stemming from a violent sexual assault. (Which she mocked me for in our last meeting - more on this later too.) Despite my injury and pretty extreme anxiety, the woman who couldn't bother to comb her hair or clean the filth from her office, terrorized me just prior to leaving for my trip, as well as the entire time I was at the conference. Demanding all kinds of ridiculous things from me (things she would never have demanded of anyone else traveling for work under similar circumstances), simply because she could. She knew she could. Because SITE Santa Fe's Board of Directors had already decided they didn't want to keep me around. (I'll discuss possible reasons later.) A decision they made perfectly clear - in ALL of the ways they treated me - which was MUCH different than other (more preferred) staff. SITE Santa Fe's Board of Directors knew I couldn't take them to court. They knew I was a pay-check-to-pay-check single mum putting her kid through college. They knew I had no way to muster the $20,000 my attorney told me I needed - only after he'd already taken my last $2k to defend me. (More on him too.) My guess is that SITE Santa Fe will never grow to 50 employees - because then labor laws kick in. Clara, the stupidly empowered tyrant, knew she could make cruel and unusual demands of me in my condition because she knew she would never be held accountable. Because I was sick. Because I was poor. And because I had nobody I could count on. So, despite doing my best to deal with my medical condition, my PTSD, and the 28th anniversary of my mother's death, and failing quite miserably, I was scolded, ridiculed, and chastised into processing payroll remotely - even though I had informed my boss (several times) that I did not have a secure internet connection in my room (where we had planned for me to process the payroll). Ms. Samayoa insisted via phone that I immediately resolve the problem while I was in excruciating pain. Because I have always been a people pleaser, I bent over backwards during that trip to try to get Clara and SITE Santa Fe everything they needed. Despite this... I was fired shortly after returning to work - after being FORCED on a medical leave. From day one I was treated as an outcast and used for my abilities, by the folks who ultimately stole my medical insurance - the moment I needed it most. This... this is how we have allowed MILLIONS to suffer and die in obscurity - by allowing vile, greedy, ignorant and vicious people to control other people's well being. *The truth shall set us free.
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