Disney Cast Member was forced to quit over bathroom air freshener

[GrumpyFan]

She's been working there for 19 years but has only just become a problem now? Are the air freshners new installations? was she moved somewhere new? I'm a little confused.

It's not unheard of for people to develop allergies and sensitivity to things as they get older. I've seen it personally in my wife who has developed severe allergies to some alcohol and Tylenol/acetaminophen.

 

[GrumpyFan]

I doubt a Disney store employee that worked at say a mall location would get transferred to the theme parks.

Not sure why this line of questioning matters, but transfers can occur outside of the company, as in, the CM deciding (voluntarily) to move themselves and getting re-hired by another Disney division (parks). I believe in cases like this, with Disney or other companies even, they can retain their previous tenure with the company, but not necessarily their position.

 

[castlecake2.0]

I doubt a Disney store employee that worked at say a mall location would get transferred to the theme parks.

It actually Happens quite often. At my Disney store we have 5 cast members that have worked between parks/stores, and we are in Canada.

 

[jaklgreen]

As someone who is sensitive to fragrances to the point where it can (and will) trigger a migraine, I sympathize with the misunderstanding people have about scent sensitivity. You wouldn't think twice if it were an epileptic having problems with flashing light patterns. But people are dismissive of the medical implications of perfumes and fragrances. Migraines are a neurological condition closer to epilepsy than merely a headache and avoiding one's triggers is key. I've had to leave a movie theater before when someone sat down next to me drenched in perfume. It seems silly they couldn't merely change her role to one that wouldn't encounter the fragrances.

I also am allergic to strong fragrances and especially cigarette smoke. I get an instant reaction, migraine, itchy eyes, plugged up nose. The place I work at has someone come and clean the bathrooms and he also fills the air freshener dispenser. There have been several times that the fragrance that he put in would be so overpowering that I could not walk in there. And that is the only bathroom. Someone would have to remove it because it was over powering. This is not a fun thing to have. I have to hold my breath and plug my nose when I walk anywhere near a smoking area. Not to mention when people wear perfume/cologne. It's miserable.

 

[rob0519]

Sorry this woman lost her job and retirement benefits. Does anyone know what type of job this woman was performing and where the workplace was located? Was the air freshener so bad in every restroom in the building that there was not another she could use? Was there another job in the company somewhere for which she could have posted? There has to be something more to this story.

 

[Lets Respect]

Sounds like she developed a sensitivity as she got older. Which can happen. Seems like removing the air freshener would have been an easy accommodation

 

[GrumpyFan]

Sounds like she developed a sensitivity as she got older. Which can happen. Seems like removing the air freshener would have been an easy accommodation

Or, move her to another location/job where it wouldn't be as much of an issue, maybe?
There's more to this story, but we probably will never hear it.

 

[dig311dug]

they forgot to mention her stealing merch and stockpiling it in her living room

 

[GrumpyFan]

they forgot to mention her stealing merch and stockpiling it in her living room

For real, or are you being sarcastic?
And, if real, souce?

 

[DHSCM]

Having been a custodian at disney I'll chime in here. Disney has a habit of over doing it on bathroom air fresheners. As someone who is also extremely sensitive to fragrances I almost never sprayed the air freshener we were supposed to in the bathrooms as it was very very easy to over do it. Additionally sometime in 2014 disney started installing fragrance units inside the guest restrooms and Presumably in this case the office restrooms as well. These new units were meant to be a replacement for the spray bottles custodians were supposed to use because some never used it (that's me) and others way over did it. The problem however is the installers had the dispersement setting set too high so many of the restrooms were fragrance hell. Because of all of this I can completely understand this woman's issues with the fragrances being overwhelming because I have experienced it as well. The real travesty of this story however is since she was an office worker, she very likely was not a union member and has really no recourse to either get her job back or at least get her pension.

When I was a custodian I always used the fragrance in my case we had "citrus ginger" smell and it smelled lovely. I can hear out both sides. As a custodian I have been mortified by the things ive either cleaned, smelled or touched in the bathrooms (all that magical sugar) having to clean the bathroom outside of rock and roller coaster there would be puke in it all the time from people who got sick and it smelt and with Disney adhearing to high cleanliness standards I made sure I sprayed it real good in there, so I can probably agree with her that it was strong.

 

[MotherOfBirds]

It's not unheard of for people to develop allergies and sensitivity to things as they get older. I've seen it personally in my wife who has developed severe allergies to some alcohol and Tylenol/acetaminophen.

Yep. Someone in my family had their asthma disappear for the better part of two decades before it emerged again due to a new trigger. I myself only developed seasonal and pet allergies after I began college. This kind of thing happens all the time. Just move her to outdoor custodial or literally anywhere else on the property.

 

[larryz]

For real, or are you being sarcastic?
And, if real, souce?

* crickets *

 

[AEfx]

If your asthma is so uncontrolled that your medication is not preventing this, then you are not on the proper medication. And I am a severe asthmatic, I know of what I speak.

 

[AEfx]

they forgot to mention her stealing merch and stockpiling it in her living room

No, don't confuse her with Jim Hill. (Though he would try to return the merchandise, which is why they sent him up the river for it.)

 

[Lets Respect]

Or, move her to another location/job where it wouldn't be as much of an issue, maybe?
There's more to this story, but we probably will never hear it.

I dunno. I don't think removing an air freshener is a big deal if it's bothering someone? It's not critical to the business

 

[Lets Respect]

Also moving to Florida from a more northern climate to give you asthma that you didn't no you had. Much more mold etc. in the south and for that matter where ever she lived could have had a mold problem causing problems at work.

Who knows and we certainly will never have the whole story.

This is very true. I don't know where she was from but I've heard of quite a few Northern people who have trouble in the South

 

[GlassHalfFull]

I once met a lady that had an office mate install an air freshener, and then this woman was off work for 18 months and then ultimately took an early retirement because she couldn't go back to work in that same location. Due to Hipaa and FMLA she was able to continue to get paid and the school employees around her never understood why they couldn't just remove the air freshener, and maybe even install a new one, to get her back(it was bought and installed by another employee in the office). The Doc just told her she couldn't go back in the building, like it was an Anthrax air freshener or something(I think what she was telling the Doc was not quite true, based on all the stories around the office of past claims by the lady)

Interesting thing, when it was installed in the morning by the coworker, the lady multiple times throughout the day commented how lovely it smelled and apparently asked where the other person got it because she wanted to "buy her own for home"..

So while I do believe in scent issues, I think there are some that may use it as a crutch(like every personal health issue out there), and I hope that isn't the case here

 

[Raineman]

When it comes to an issue like this, it's a lose-lose situation for Disney, IMO. If you cater to the minority that have fragrance sensitivity issues, then you have everyone else complaining that the bathrooms always smell bad after someone has used the facilities, or vomited. If you cater to the majority of people who like the air fresheners to cover up the bad smells, then you get the fragrance-sensitive people complaining. It doesn't matter what is done in this situation, there will be an outcry by some WDW employees/guests.

 

[Mr Disney]

I want to say that I can't believe it, but this is totally what Disney does. You're a number. Not a name. Not a person.

 

[jloucks]

Well, I am saddened to sound blunt, but when you work these low income/skill jobs, you need to stay below the poo radar or get shot down. You are of little value (check your paycheck) and if you start shenanigans you immediately go from little value to negative value.

That generally ends badly.

Add to that a rather nit-picky issue and you just accelerate your journey to negative value. Restroom fragrance? Really? You can damn near hold your breath long enough to avoid that issue. Certainly you could put on a painters mask. ..it would look ridiculous, but you would avoid getting on the poo list.