This is one reason State Employees get a bad rap... http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1428003.html
If she has sleep apnea, and her employer knew of it, I think she has a case. Would you prefer she was on welfare/Social Security? I had to teach a workshop once were a gentleman had such a severe case where you would fall asleep mid sentence (I would prefer not to think it was my ability to maintain his attention 8)). Yet the individual was brilliant and measures were taken to make sure that no ones safety was put at risk.
I have sleep apnea myself and have never fallen asleep at work. Even on as little as four hours of sleep. They do have certain medical procedures that can help the apnea if it is severe enough. My thing is, she knew she was asleep and pretended to shuffle papers when she woke up... I guess it's just me, being a State Employee, venting a little... :banghead:
I have to take the lady's side here. It appears that she did ask for time off but was refused so she had done really all she could. I do not have sleep apnea but I know people who do and it seems that what she was going through is normal (being that her mask wasn't sealing properly). I think common sense has to come into play in situations like this. If she were a good employee whose work ethics were up to par except for these few times then I would cut her a break. But, that's just me.
One more thing . . . this is free, won't cost you any extra . . . if you are ever caught sleeping at your desk just open your eyes, lift your head and say Amen. :mrgreen:
"Her attorney, John Campion of Raleigh, said Hinton had no control over falling asleep at her desk. "The problem with sleep apnea is you really don't get a good night's sleep," Campion said, likening the condition to epilepsy." Well gee......this sounds like me most nights as far as not getting a good night's sleep. And I'm not dozing off here at work, as much as I'd like to some times, it just ain't happeneing. Craig
This lady has been warned 4 times in the last 6 years about this. And she was suspended in 2006. It's her responsibility as a grown woman to make sure she has the proper fit for her mask and do what it takes to not fall asleep at work, as she had been warned many times. I am sorry she has this condition but there are new moms, people with asthma, people who don't sleep well for all kinds of other reasons surrounding all of us. also, I am a state employee too, and my boss as well as another lady I work with, have this condition and I have never seen either of them asleep.
hey if all she wasted during the day were four lousey minutes napping ...the state employees would be in better shape. Too many shove their heads up you know where for a lot longer then four minutes a day. Including her boss ....Seneca. He soulds like a butt head. Humiliating her like that. A quiet conversation would have surficed, not the way he handled it. Ten bucks says she is a single, over weight, and not the prettiest thing around. SOoooo I bet Seneca had it out for her. Typical " I want someone perfect in my office" male. This guy is a jerk. She was wrong for napping - but if she has a documented medical condition.....have a heart. We are not talking hours here we are talking four measly minutes. But you Seneca leaves at least four minuites early here and there.... so whose wasting state money????
So I don't get why everyone is overlooking that "Hinton's dismissal was also based on using a department van without approval, according to state documents." It sounds like she has a well documented file of issues, including but not limited to sleeping on the job. She's obviously had problems in her position dating back to at least 2003. My personal opinion is to get rid of her and replace her with one of the many qualified people living in the area that are currently unemployed and who would be happy to perform better. I agree that if she was diagnosed with this problem in 2006 she should have the mask issue under control. And she shouldn't be given preferential treatment because of sleep apnea. It's not a disability, it's a minor medical condition. Most people have some minor issue, but you can't give everyone special treatment for every little thing and expect things to get done. If it was that big of an issue, she should have had her doctor pull her out of work. It's called medical leave and is a right under federal law. If she'd gone that route and lived with the unpaid aspect, she might still be employed (except for maybe the little issue of the unauthorized van usage). I'm interested to see the results of the November hearing.
Sorry to disagree with you here, but sleep apnea is in fact a dangerous medical condition that is a proven risk factor for heart disease and damage. It also affects coordination and a host of other symptoms which can be dangerous to both the person suffering from it, and others. It has been demonstrated that sleep deprivation can render it as unsafe for a person to drive as operating under the influence of drugs or alcohol. With under treated or untreated sleep apnea, the restful sleep that most people get is not attained. Sleep apnea patients do not reach REM sleep, when the body is maximizing its "recharging the batteries" mode. Heart disease, vascular insufficiency, and a host of other diseases are attributable to sleep apnea being a factor.
That's what gives state employees a bad name, 9 months? I'm interested why it takes 9 months to schedule a hearing? Reminds me of a joke. Sunday services in the local church. This week has a piccolo player as a special guest performance. At the end of the performance someone in the church yells, "The piccolo player is an idiot!" The preacher is infuriated and says, "No one is leaving this church till the person who said that stands up. After 2 minutes a man stands up. The preacher asks him if he called the piccolo player an idiot. The man says, "No I did not call the piccolo player an idiot. But I would like to know who called that idiot a piccolo player?"
I've often wondered: If a person has sleep apnea and could "fall asleep at any second", why are they allowed to have a driver's license??????
Kinda like a diagnosis for epilepsy, isn't it? If people who were impaired, for whatever reason, weren't allowed to drive, we could go back to two lane interstates. Not sure if NC follows the same, but in California, a diagnosis of epilepsy was grounds for DMV to suspend your license, until a physician cleared you to drive..and that rarely happened as physicians didn't want to be on the hook in case of an accident. We know that some vehicles have some type of substance abuse device, so that the operator of said vehicle must perform certain actions in order to get the vehicle started. If science developed one that would prevent a driver from starting the car to operate in any type of impaired condition, few cars would hit the road. First people unable to drive would be the TA/Bus Drivers in JoCo, because they get up at oh dark thirty, drive two or three routes, work at school, drive the routes in the afternoon, and then go to their part time job, again to get up at oh dark thirty..... And, of course, those DOT workers who are leaning on their shovels semi asleep might have their jobs at risk also, right? 8)
Actually have a freind that that is how he found he had sleep apnea. Due to it he dozed off while driving and wrecked. Forunately for him noone was injured except the vehicle. Craig
I agree. I am less concerned about somebody falling asleep on taxpayer dollars for a few minutes due to a medical condition than the other tax/time wasters out there.
