[nagdu] Need Advice About Allergic Coworker

[solsticesinger]

My understanding is that it is your coworker's responsibility to come up 
with a solution to his allergies. The sollution can not be for you to leave 
your dog in one area of the building. He needs to take medication, see a 
doctor, or something.

I've dealt with people who claim to have dog alergies, and, basically, I've 
told them to take meds before coming into contact with my dog. I do my part 
by keeping her well-groomed, and, of course, I don't allow her to be in 
their personal space. However, that's as far as I'm willing to go.

Good luck.

Shannon and Caroline
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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alysha" <anjeans at att.net>
To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2010 6:38 PM
Subject: [nagdu] Need Advice About Allergic Coworker


> Hello,
> I was hoping some of you might have some suggestions for me about how to 
> deal with an issue I've been having with a coworker who is allergic to my 
> seeing eye dog Hammar. I've been at this job for about 6 months now, and I 
> was originally assigned to work in his lab. He first mentioned that he was 
> having problems with allergies after about a week, and I moved to another 
> lab. Everything was fine until about a month ago, but one day I forgot and 
> brought Hammar into his lab. He complained about having an allergic 
> reaction that night, and he took 2 or 3 days of sick leave because of it. 
> My supervisor (who I think feels terrible about the whole thing) reminded 
> me to keep Hammar out of his lab, and I apologized and said that I had no 
> problem doing that as long as he wasn't restricted in other areas of the 
> building. After that, my coworker has repeatedly mentioned having 
> reactions to Hammar from being in common spaces (break room, conference 
> room, etc.) where Hammar has also spent time. Now I'm worried that I might 
> be prevented from bringing my dog to areas of the building where I 
> commonly have meetings and eat lunch. The kicker is that neither I or 
> anyone I've talked to have ever once seen this man sneeze, have red or 
> swollen eyes, blow his nose, or wheeze, and all of his reactions seem to 
> happen once he's at home and away from the source of the allergy. I was 
> told by another coworker that he said he almost had to go to the emergency 
> room because of his allergies, but that a fever was one of his symptoms. 
> As far as I know, fevers aren't caused by allergies. At the time of this 
> reaction, almost everyone in the office had been sick with fevers and 
> colds. He has apparently had breathing problems at home, but he's a chain 
> smoker. I have heard him complain once at work of itching, but that's it. 
> So maybe my dog is part of his problem, but his reactions could definitely 
> be caused by something else as well.
>
> I'm wondering what I should do in this tricky situation? I'm really not OK 
> with having to leave Hammar in my lab the entire time I'm at work, 
> especially if the allergy complaint isn't actually legitimate. I suggested 
> to my supervisor that we have a cleaning crew come to the break/conference 
> room more often to vacuum (which really needs to happen allergies or no 
> allergies), and I'm also going to suggest we add a HEPA filter there to 
> help keep dander out of the air. I groom Hammar an absolute minimum of 
> every other day, and I always sit in the same place for meetings and 
> lunch. But any thoughts on what my rights are or what I should do if my 
> coworker isn't happy with these solutions?
>
> Thanks,
> Alysha
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