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A post about a worker who was dismissed from a new job on their first day after raising concerns about Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance has gone viral on Reddit.
The post, shared in the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit, has garnered 28,000 upvotes since it was shared on July 15. The title of the post says: “Pointed out the training wasn’t ADA compliant at my new job. Got this text the same day (the job listing is still up).”
Noting that they have dyslexia, the user included a screenshot of a text message they received shortly after completing their first shift at a cleaning job.
The message stated that the company had made the “difficult decision” to eliminate the worker’s position “due to a reduction in headcount” and said their employment would end that day.
The message continued: “As part of this process, we also evaluated the evolving requirements of the role and determined that we need a different set of skills and experience to meet the organization’s current and future needs. Today will be your last day of employment. You will receive 8 hours for today’s shift on your Paycheck deposit on 7/23/26.”
A screenshot from a Reddit post about a worker who gets dismissed on the first of a new job. A screenshot from a Reddit post about a worker who gets dismissed on the first of a new job.
The U.S. government describes the ADA as “a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in everyday activities” and guarantees equal opportunities in employment and other areas.
The ADA website also states that organizations may require advance notice for aids or services, “but a person might make a walk-in request for a communication aid or service,” and “you still need to provide that aid or service as best you can.”
In the Reddit post’s caption, the worker explained that their dyslexia would not have affected their ability to do the job. “I can read fine, it just takes me a very long time,” the poster wrote, adding that the shift had been their first day.
According to the user, the issue arose during a lengthy training session. The poster said they requested a text-to-speech (TTS) application to help complete the reading portion of the training because they believed they would not finish it in the allotted time. The company reportedly told them that such a feature was not built into its system but said it was acceptable to install a browser extension that used optical character recognition (OCR) and text-to-speech technology.
The worker said they informed the employer that the lack of a built-in TTS option was not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). They later explained that they had also requested either additional time to complete the training, a loaner computer, or permission to use a third-party OCR and TTS program.
The poster said management approved the third option. They spent the remainder of the shift listening to the training materials through the third-party application and believed the matter had been resolved.
However, the worker said they received a dismissal text roughly 40 minutes after clocking out. The Reddit user expressed skepticism about the explanation provided, noting that the company was supposedly reducing headcount “by firing one person” while leaving an “urgently hiring” Indeed job listing active.
The poster said they were unsure whether they would be able to pursue legal action because the accommodation discussion was not documented in writing. They explained that the conversation about accessibility took place verbally and that they had initially been asking where the text-to-speech feature was located because similar training programs they had used in the past typically included one.
According to a survey by the Institute of Business Ethics reported by Corporate Compliance Ethics in October 2024, 43 percent of American employees said they worried that raising concerns could jeopardize their employment.
Just over a third, 35 percent, doubted any corrective action would be taken if they did speak up, while around half of those who raised concerns reported experiencing personal disadvantage or retaliation, the survey found.
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via the Reddit messaging system.
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Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Sirena Bergman and Emma Lee-Sang
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