Throwaway account for anonymity =) Location: Connecticut.
I work in a corporate setting. The chairs provided in the office are extremely uncomfortable (steel series think v2. It has a very thin pad and hard back. I'm quite tall and it doesn't fit well), and have been causing me intense pain in my lower back and shooting down my leg. I've tried to use a pad, but it doesn't help and has been getting worse.
I went out and bought myself a similar chair on fb market place (got a size C Herman Miller Aeron) and brought it into the office. My boss saw, commented "new chair eh" and proceeded to inform the facilities manager to let me know we couldn't our own chairs as other people would want new chairs too if mine was different. I informed him of my back pain and said i could get a doctor's note if necessary. He said it would be, so i booked an appointment that evening and sent the note to him and cc'd HR.
They then said that the issue isn't that it looks slightly different, but that there are rules against having our own chairs as it needs to go through the vendor (different from original explanation). They said they would get me a new chair similar to my own from the vendor and it would take 6-8 weeks. They said i may have to work from home during this time as they didn't want my chair there. I said that was fine, albeit a bit strange.
They then told me yesterday i would not be in fact getting the chair they offered, but that they would instead just get something similar enough from another facility. I said that was fine as well, as long as it was similar in ergonomic support. They then informed me today that the chair arrived....
Lo and behold....it was the exact chair I already had brough in (the Aeron) but in a size B which is too small for me (my legs hang off by about 8 inches and the backrest ends below my shoulder blades). Additionally, their vendor is steelcase so doesnt even provide this chair, which is at odds with the latest explanation. They now said the reason is that I cant have personal assets in the office (even though every desk in the office is full of decoration and personal items).
They wanted me to use it for a week and see how it felt. I informed them this wouldn't work, and showed them the size difference and why it would cause back pain. I stated that I could use it tomorrow if necessary, but would be sending a note by EOD if it caused pain. My manager then relented, saying that I could use my chair tomorrow, but that they would discuss with me tomorrow the use of my chair going forward.
I am at a complete loss here. It's a fucking chair. I had no idea you couldn't bring your own chair as anywhere else I worked in the past would have never expected you to request this. Their reasoning for why this is a problem also is inconsistent and keeps changing. I wouldn't be making such a fuss if i wasn't in serious pain from the previous chair.
What legal standing do i have to allow them to let me use this chair, or wfh until a replacement is sourced due to back pain? Do they have a certain amount of time allotted to provide replacement, and do i have to stand or use whatever they have in the meantime even if it causes pain? The doctor's note says i need to be allowed to sit when necessary, and have an ergonomic chair the helps eliminate the recurring back pain.