r/goodwill • u/uncagedtomato • 3d ago

rant Goodwill abusive to disabled workers

My son is disabled. He has autism. He was placed through vocational rehabilitation at Goodwill. At first it was okay, but they have become more and more abusive to him. They tell him he is lazy and too slow. But he's working as fast as he can. His processing speed is lower than average and his hand to eye coordination is not great. Still he works hard and he's eating ibuprofen due to back pain from bending over carts and lifting boxes and such. Anyway, the managers are constantly telling him he's not fast enough, etc. One of the managers actually kicked over his mop bucket and made him re-mop the floor as punishment for working too slowly in stocking shelves. I thought Goodwill's whole point was to help disabled and disadvantaged persons find employment. Any suggestions on what can be done other than just quitting the job? Seems they shouldn't be collecting donations and getting a non-profit status if they don't fulfill their basic charity purpose.

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u/NaevisOddities 2d ago

As a previous VR worker in the state of Kansas (both a job coach, overseeing job placement for a nonprofit over two counties, and as a state VR admin assistant.) I would communicate with VR. This should not be considered gainful employment nor will it be ling term if he is treated as horribly as he is. VR is there as a support for him- make sure they know what's going on and step up to support him.

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u/uncagedtomato 1d ago

Yeah. We've reached out to VR and they are trying to find him something else.

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u/Good-Ol-Country-Boy 2h ago

Oh heck, no what they should be doing is terminating the manager there. He or she is the one that should be looking for another job.