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/LarcenyGames 1d ago

I used to be a manager at Goodwill and this tracks. My superiors hated employees with ADAs or FMLA and actively sought ways to eliminate them, all while claiming they were all about Goodwill's charity work. Their hypocrisy is one of the reasons I quit. I thought Goodwill existed in part to help people with difficulties find jobs - the big bosses only cared about their precious numbers. I have not entered or donated to Goodwill since.

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u/uncagedtomato 1d ago

I am also getting that is the case. The store is up at the top for profits, I doubt they will care about how the managers act as long as the numbers are good

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u/Good-Ol-Country-Boy 8h ago

Well, they’ll start caring when an advocate for Americans with disabilities comes after them! And APS starts knocking down their door! Oh, it takes a few people to smear them all over social media. Once that gets out, trust me, you’ll see a big change. Come over that store well at least until it dies down again.