The trauma of enduring, and recovering from, two brain surgeries has been nothing compared to the injustice I have suffered by AFSCME.

My story is as follows:

In 1990, I began a job with AFSCME Illinois Council 31, the largest union for the state
of Illinois.

I worked for AFSCME for 13 years. I was a member of PEOPLE and Int'l VIP but was not a union employee. I didn't feel I needed to be since I worked for the Union. They were the Union and therefore had to be fair, right?

In 1998, I suffered a brain aneurysm and missed three weeks of work. In 2000, I took six weeks maternity leave for the c-section birth of my child. In February, 2003 I learned I had a brain tumor. I required over 11 weeks off work for my second brain surgery.

Eleven work days back, I was given 5 minutes to leave the building. Luckily, I had a cell phone and was able to call someone to come get me as I waited by the street on one of the hottest
days in Illinois that August. I couldn't just get into my car and leave as I didn't yet drive after surgery. I received a one sentence letter stating I had been terminated in the following day's mail.

AFSCME is self insured. AFSCME pays a small premium for administration of our health
claims. In addition, AFSCME pays all claims up to an individual's specific. The day I returned, my boss called me into his office, with the door open, and quizzed me in depth about my health. We discussed that the
surgeon had left a 2 inch section of bone out of my skull in case he ever needed to operate there again. I wasn't able to drive, I needed glasses to.

I filed a discrimination charge with the Il Dept. of Human Rights. It culminated in a
fact finding conference on 08/04/04. My former boss stated that I was terminated for not allowing him to shut a door. Human Rights told me that I wasn't handicapped under the Illinois guidelines, I was temporarily recovering from a surgery, and therefore didn't qualify under Illinois law.

The investigator suggested that I withdraw my complaint from Illinois Dept of Human Rights but continue the charge with EEOC. On December 20, 2004, EEOC sent me the determination "Based upon the Commision's investigation, the Commission is unable to conclude that the information obtained
establishes violations of the statutes. This does not certify that the respondent is in compliance with the statutes. No finding is made as to any other issues that might be construed as having been raised by this charge."
The bottom of the form says I have a right to sue WITHIN 90 DAYS. I have no job and no money but am expected to sue one of the largest unions in the state of Illinois!

I can't fight AFSCME monetarily, but I can try to beat them at their own game. I would like the following:
1. My story to be widely publicized so everyone
knows what AFSCME did to me.
and
2. For everyone to either call Henry Bayer at
1-800-697-4645 extension 4308 or e-mail him at henry (at) afscmeillinois.org and tell him this betrayal of the Union movement is wrong

Please take a moment and get
involved.

Sue Smith
#8 Toler Bend
Franklin, IL 62638
217 370-6652
217 675-2710