Discrimination at work

[scaley45]

Firstly if this could be better posted elsewhere please say.

My friend has suffered with anxiety & depression for a few years now. Was off sick because it was extremely serious. She's still struggling. She has managed to return to one of her jobs in a supermarket. They allowed her to work nights so that she's didn't have to face customers which was the only way she could cope. She's been quite happy and settled doing this. This morning she was called into a surprise meeting to say she can't do nights anymore because the night manager can't cope with my friend when she has a panic attack. It's only happened twice. The manager is very young. I can't believe they can do this to her. Surely it's their problem not my friends? If she were epileptic or diabetic they couldn't discriminate. How would the manager cope with a customer? My friend has said to me how much of a struggle it would be to work days not just because of dealing with the public but also because of her medication and it would make it difficult to see her children.

Please any help and advice would be gratefuly received. This situation is now making her more anxious, something she can definitely do without.

It sounds to me, that your friend would be better of working somewhere else...
Sometimes it's best to just remove yourself from situations that are damaging to your mental or physical health.
Clearly the manager doesn't have the experience enough to handle her panic attacks. Unless the manager is willing to learn how to deal with such situations, your friend will have to face the stress of working with customers.
A job in a back office, where no contact with customers is needed, would be an option?

You are right, that doesn't sound fair. In their defence, management is (or should be) about supporting the staff, not just telling them what to do. The structure needs to be there to support your friend if need be. Taking it all at face value, I think their first step should have been to agree a plan of what should happen if she has a panic attack. Rather than the manager having to just "deal with it" on the spot, it should be discussed and agreed in advance, like they need to know what food or drink to give to a colleague having a diabetic hypo, or how to administer an epi pen. Maybe it would fall to the first aider on shift rather than the manager, I don't know.

The manager is obviously not getting the support she needs either. This could all be overcome by some basic discussion and planning - IF management are telling the truth and prepared to listen.

I can see both sides. An adult student of mine is epileptic and has had countless seizures in my classroom. Just because I'm the teacher doesn't mean I'm automatically equipped to deal with the situation

I've had no training and quite frankly I was a shaking mess after witnessing the first one. I'm a dab hand now but I really was stressed and upset after the 1st.

Who is to say the manager is capable of dealing with a mental health crisis/ panic attack? What if he/she suffers with anxiety and the stress of not knowing how to handle an attack makes it worse?