Bayer & Borlase

At first glance, I look like a normal, healthy professional in my mid-twenties. But the reality is that I have a degenerative skeletal condition that I will need to live with for the rest of my life.

My disability emerged about a year after I began working for a large hospitality company in San Francisco. My annual review the year prior to my disability was outstanding. But during the second year of employment I developed the skeletal condition which impacted my ability to perform. I could still do the job, but I had to do it differently than I did before. It quickly became obvious that my employer didn’t have any compassion for my situation and wasn’t interested in finding a way to accommodate my disability. To the contrary, they made it obvious that I was no longer wanted. They essentially told me, in so many words, that because of my “situation” I should expect a very poor annual review.

I didn’t think they were dealing fairly with me at all, so I started looking at attorneys who could help me in advance of the poor annual review I knew was coming. I was really concerned that my future employment potential was being put at risk by a company willing to badmouth my job performance to the point where no one else would want to hire me. I was determined not to let that happen.

I found Bayer & Borlase when researching disability discrimination firms online. They had just resolved a case for another client dealing with virtually the same situation as my own in the same industry.

When I spoke with Bayer & Borlase about representing me in the civil suit, it was really eye opening to see how much more hands-on they were. Even before I signed with Bayer & Borlase, Heather gave me fantastic advice going into my annual review that proved to be very helpful in getting me through the evaluation without breaking down. I couldn’t imagine a big law firm taking the time to do that – especially for someone who wasn’t even a client yet. I knew at that moment that Bayer & Borlase was the right firm for me.

Talking with them, I could tell right away that Alan and Heather were passionate about helping me protect my rights and my reputation. They really seemed to take what my employer was doing to me as personally as I did. That meant a lot and helped me to trust that Bayer & Borlase would work hard to represent my best interest. It’s safe to say that this period of my life was the toughest to get through by far. To ensure I got the result I was looking for, I had to continue to work in an environment where I obviously wasn’t wanted, and where I desperately did not want to be. It was a demoralizing period, and there were many times when I wanted to give up just so that I could escape the stress. But that’s exactly what my employer wanted. They wanted me to buckle under the pressure and retreat. Heather was wonderful at helping to keep my “eyes on the prize” and stay focused on our objective. From the beginning, Bayer & Borlase devised a very clear strategy to force my employer into a suitable resolution sooner rather than later, and to do that , I had to tough it out by continuing to go to work. Every time I had a low moment, Alan and Heather were there to pick me up and give me the strength I needed to keep on fighting. Because of Bayer & Borlase, I quickly got the settlement I wanted and was able to ensure my professional reputation was protected. We achieved our objective in spite of the fact that my employer thought they’d make quick work of a small, relatively new firm like Bayer & Borlase. How very, very wrong they were!