I'm not the only one angry about this!

[Hbgchick]

All the people who are jumping to send nasty emails and make irate phone calls need to consider that there could very well be more to this story.

The more I read the more I realize there is WAY more to the story. I was upset at first, but now realize that this woman was simply fired for not showing up for work.

Try to take the personal feelings away for a sec. Imagine she wasn't sending her husband off to war. Monday came, she didn't show up. They had every reason to fire her for that - especially since she had apparently been given ample time off.

It sounds like she asked for too much, the company finally got tired of bending over backwards for a part-time receptionist, and did not really believe the company when they said she needed to be back on the 17th.

 

[13th Juror]

All the people who are jumping to send nasty emails and make irate phone calls need to consider that there could very well be more to this story.

I agree, Mabel. I think there's a lot more to this story than meets the eye.

13th Juror

 

[luthersmama]

Wasn't there a story about a woman who was fired for not coming to work because she "had to" go to New Orleans and fetch her grandchild and then babysit him after the hurricane? She made a stink too.

It bugs me that people think that their own personal disaster, whatever it is, allows them to blow off work without any consequences. If everybody could just call in any time and say "Sorry! Can't come to work today because {insert tale of woe}" nobody could run a business.

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

Sounds like this woman worked for the same paper-pushings a-holes you see on THE OFFICE.

 

[Yakwoman]

From a different perspective:

She had permission from her company to have a week off. She had a week off. Her husband left on October 16, 2005. She was required to return to work after she saw him off and after a week. That would be October 17, 2005.

She decided she wanted an additional day. She did not have permission for this extra day. She seems to be under the impression that she decides when she is going to return to work, not the employer.

The employer and her agreeed for her to return to work October 17, 2005, the employer was not agreeable to her coming in on October 18.

Therefore they did fire her with cause. An employee just can't decide when they will come to work, that is up to the employer by mutual agreement.

She was unpaid because she was a part-time employee.

Therefore she was fired for cause..........I have a funny feeling that this may have been the "last" straw" and other "factors" were involved with her job that may have lead up to her firing.

The reason that she was fired: She did not return to work as required on October 17.

No lawsuit here.........not at all...........

I agree. I've worked in Human Resources for a long time and you always make allowances like that for good employees. There has to be more to the story. I think you're probably right about it being "the last straw."

 

[daveknowshow2]

companies think they own you when you work for them not true as i will explain i went too work for a small company through my hard work that company grew 10 fold. i then went through a nasty break up at home my emotional state was a wreck i feared for my unrational reactions and took my vacation, left town too try and gather my thoughts upon my return too my home state i did not return too work that monday i had mounds of things too get done including finding a new place too live. the next day i got myself together enough too return too work where i was greated with " not sure you still work here" i gathered my tools and left 30 minutes later the owners wife called " you know how sam is she said come back as soon as you can" well sam's reaction towards me ended my desire too work for a company that could not feel my hurt! well that company is barely still in business. however i have my own business now as the customers found out i was no longer there they hunted me down and requested i continue too preform there service. i never went after any customers of the company they all sought me out! too think one day made all that differnce and one person little old me!

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

I agree. I've worked in Human Resources for a long time and you always make allowances like that for good employees. There has to be more to the story. I think you're probably right about it being "the last straw."

Yeah, well, it's less than 90 days from Christmas. Every business I ever worked for was fond of finding reasons of letting go of PT employees who were on the verge of being FT go around then. Ho, Ho, Ho, you scum-sucking white collar dirtbags.

 

[Bobbisangel]

That makes all the difference. That's a rather critical detail. Her company let her see her husband off. They even gave her a whole week off to see him off properly. That's ridiculous that she is now making such a huge fuss over being fired for choosing not to return to work at the end of her vacation. I hope the company can get that message out successfully.

I think the bad PR is worth it, better than having an employee you can't ever fire who is a slacker. I hate people who take advantage of people's goodwill like that. The bad PR hopefully can go away if the company can get the message out - they gave her a whole week to say goodbye. That's pretty generous in my book.

The company granted this wife a 4 day unpaid leave of absence...they didn't give her anything except to grant her the leave. Maybe she didn't realize how difficult it would be to go back to work on the same day that her husband left and she just couldn't do it.

You would think that this company could cut this wife a little slack.

I would think that legally she is allowed to see her file and even make copies of it....unless it is indeed a very positive file with no warnings or anything else in it and that vice president of operations was looking for an excuse to fire her and can't back it up.

 

[SadieMae]

companies think they own you when you work for them not true as i will explain i went too work for a small company through my hard work that company grew 10 fold. i then went through a nasty break up at home my emotional state was a wreck i feared for my unrational reactions and took my vacation, left town too try and gather my thoughts upon my return too my home state i did not return too work that monday i had mounds of things too get done including finding a new place too live. the next day i got myself together enough too return too work where i was greated with " not sure you still work here" i gathered my tools and left 30 minutes later the owners wife called " you know how sam is she said come back as soon as you can" well sam's reaction towards me ended my desire too work for a company that could not feel my hurt! well that company is barely still in business. however i have my own business now as the customers found out i was no longer there they hunted me down and requested i continue too preform there service. i never went after any customers of the company they all sought me out! too think one day made all that differnce and one person little old me!

Well that's what karma is all about!

 

[Details]

I've seen both - the uncaring company getting rid of one good person (my BIL), and going into a death spiral as everyone else even remotely good leaves the company; and the lousy, borderline employee going one step too far, straw that broke the camels back, and being fired, then whining all over and making a horrible sounding case for how she was fired that is misleading.

I don't know which it is - but something about the story just doesn't sit right - too many of the phrases I've heard used before by lousy employees or customers who want to pretend they didn't know the rule, so it didn't apply to them. The fact that it was at first presented as 'the company fired her for going to say goodbye to her husband' when that isn't true. The discovery that she was actually given quite a bit of time off.

The company's side of the story sounds much more plausible and backed up than her side - too many maybe's and it wasn't quite clear if I had to come in to work, so I just didn't, etc.

 

[SadieMae]

Was just watching Keith Olbermann on MSNBC and he named Clark Galloway as a major loser for firing Mrs. Boler. The guy putting dooodooo on the donuts was second got place. Eyuuuuck!

BTW I found Clark Galloway's direct extension posted on another board and left him a not so nice message:
1-800-466-4198, ext 353. Edie Hogan, the "human" resource directors extension is 310.

 

[Hbgchick]

I've seen both - the uncaring company getting rid of one good person (my BIL), and going into a death spiral as everyone else even remotely good leaves the company; and the lousy, borderline employee going one step too far, straw that broke the camels back, and being fired, then whining all over and making a horrible sounding case for how she was fired that is misleading.

I don't know which it is - but something about the story just doesn't sit right - too many of the phrases I've heard used before by lousy employees or customers who want to pretend they didn't know the rule, so it didn't apply to them. The fact that it was at first presented as 'the company fired her for going to say goodbye to her husband' when that isn't true. The discovery that she was actually given quite a bit of time off.

The company's side of the story sounds much more plausible and backed up than her side - too many maybe's and it wasn't quite clear if I had to come in to work, so I just didn't, etc.

I'm with you, Details. I was the first poster to question the integrity of the woman, also having worked in HR for quite a while I just couldn't believe anyone would literally "fire her for saying goodbye to her husband". Most reputable companies are too worried about lawsuits to do something THAT stupid.