Today was my first day back at for almost four and a half months. It went well. The only thing I didn’t like is my new shift – 5am to 1:30pm. I’m a night owl by nature, so it will be difficult for me to adjust to this shift. However, I’ve done it before and I can do it again. I like my new team leader. She is laid-back and seems cool.

A couple of people on my new team have been members of other teams I’ve been on. Most of the ones that I haven’t met before are really friendly. I revealed my bipolar status to two of them. Considering what happened before perhaps I should be secretive about my illness, but I refuse to do that. It was the management that had a problem with my illness, not my co-workers. I have made it my mission to reduce the ignorance and associated with mental illness. How can I do that if I hide my status from others? Additionally, it isn’t something I’m ashamed of anymore. I’m no longer worried about others’ judgments about me or my illness. I know the truth and that is what really matters.

I have made tremendous progress over the past ten months and I take pride in that. It’s been far from easy, but that isn’t important. What is important is how much I’ve grown as a person since I decided to get help. I want to encourage other people that have or may have a mental illness and are suffering in silence to reach out and get help. It is worth it in the long run.

As for upper-management, I am not afraid of further or retaliation at this point. After they received the complaint from the they initiated changes in policies which resulted in some positive changes for employees regarding leave of absences and the like. Additionally, when they were notified that the issued me a right to sue notice, my (former) team lead resigned. I’m not certain whether he was given the option to resign instead of being terminated or not.

I decided not to pursue civil action against despite my right to do so. It was never about . I filed the complaint as a means to protect my job while I was hospitalized, to ensure that other employees were not terminated for absences due to legitimate medical or mental illness, and to keep management from discriminating against or harassing ill or disabled employees. It appears those changes have been made, so there isn’t any reason for me to sue them anymore.

However, I will not forgive and forget if it happens again. I will pursue legal action. I’m not the type of person to sit back and ignore social injustices. I fight for the underdog whenever possible.

On this day..