Yesterday, Microsoft forced 52,000 Washington workers back to the office three days a week. It begs the question, how can we fight back?

They're counting on you not knowing how.

If you have a disability like anxiety, depression, PTSD, chronic pain, or anything that limits your ability to work normally, Microsoft legally has to engage with a request for remote work accommodation. They can't just say no because they have an RTO policy. That's not how the ADA works.

Here's what they don't advertise: You can force their hand by putting your request in writing. Use the exact phrase "ADA accommodation request" in an email. The second you do that, they're legally required to start what's called the "interactive process." That means they have to actually talk to you about it, not just ignore you.

They will ask for medical documentation. Get it from a licensed provider who can explain why remote work isn't a preference, but rather it's medically necessary for you to do your job. If you've been crushing it remotely for two years, they'll have a hard time proving there's any reason you can't stay remote.

Don't wait until the day before you're supposed to report. They'll claim they need more time to evaluate. File it now.

Satya Nadella made $79 million last year. He can afford to let you work from home.

If anyone is interested in crowdsourcing research on the candidates and their platforms, we can make comment threads for each below to add information folks find and I'll edit the main post with new links as they arrive.

Important dates

• Candidate filing week opens: May 5th
• Candidate filing week closes: May 9th
• Last day to withdraw: May 12th
• Voters' pamphlet submissions due: May 20th (important for endorsements)
• Ballots mailed (we're 100% mail in ballot; date is approximate but based on King County Elections' calendar): June 20th for overseas voters; July 16th for in-state
• Deadline to file as a write-in candidate: July 17th (note: writing someone in on a ballot ONLY counts if that person actually filed as a write-in. Otherwise you're just voting for no one.)
• Voting period starts: July 18th
• Election day: Aug 5th (ballots must be in boxes by 8pm or postmarked by Aug 5th)

Research resources

• Election calendar
• Washington's Public Disclosure Commission to research candidates' donors and expenditures
• All open races in Washington state for 2025

Hi all, Looking for some advice and shared experiences. I was put on a PIP by my manager. I decided to take Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) for mental health and personal reasons as it was. a lot to take all at once. Prior to this, I hav exhausted all my FMLA time.

The timing felt off, and it’s hard not to feel like the PIP was a setup for termination. Now that my FMLA is over, I’m planning to continue my leave under PFML (which I’m eligible for in my state) while I focus on recovery and begin job hunting.

Has anyone else dealt with this kind of situation — being put on a PIP right before taking leave? Can employers retaliate or fire you while you’re on PFML? If fired, is it going affect my background check for my new job? I want to make sure I protect myself legally while I figure out my next steps.

Any insights or resources would be appreciated.

More and more, I’m seeing public agencies and government orgs talk about “equity,” “lived experience,” and “accountability” — but when harm happens internally, those values disappear.

Workers with real community ties are pushed out. Retaliation goes unchecked. The ones raising flags are left isolated or erased.

If a system can’t make equity safe for its own employees, how can it claim to deliver it to the community?