TL:DR Wife confronted boss about gossiping and 1 hour later received a message from office manager that she was terminated. Wondering if there is anything she can do or resources she can consult for being unjustly terminated.
Hey Antiworkers, my wife F(34) is a temp. dental hygienist. She has been working at this Dentistry for 14 mos. as a temp and has chosen to remain a temp because she gets a higher hourly rate compared to if she was brought on full time. Prior to finding this job she had some PTSD from a prior office she worked at during the heart of covid. Her patient population consisted primarily of anti-vaxxers and in one instance after she requested that a patient put on a mask the patient shoved her to the ground after verbally assaulting her. I share that because it is now tough for her to work in this industry, but she makes good money and knows that we really need it.
About a month ago the dentistry hired a new dentist, I'll call her Jane, F(26) fresh out of school. Jane had a tough time fitting in with the other staff as she was abrasive and socially awkward, so my wife made an extra effort to be patient and kind with her and they actually were starting to become good friends. This past Tuesday my wife had a meeting with the office manager to discuss becoming a full time member. During this meeting the office manager made several comments during the conversation about information that my wife had only shared with Jane and nobody else from the office. After that meeting my wife went up to Jane and asked why she would tell the office manager things that were told to her in confidence. Jane turned bright red, but denied saying anything to the office manager. Later that same day my wife started to get texts from other co-workers asking “why she had put her two week notice in.” My wife was confused because she never put in any such notice. She later found out that Jane had started a rumor that she had put her notice in. Upon finding this out my wife texted Jane and said “I don't appreciate you sharing information that I told to you in confidence and really don't appreciate you spreading rumors about me through the office. I am professional and am going to remain such, but our relationship is not going to be the same after this.” 1 hour later she gets an email from the office manager stating “We will no longer be needing your temporary service.” She reached out and now nobody from the office will give her a response and she was scheduled to work another 20 hours this week and 35 hours next week and she doesn't feel like it is fair. She is totally devastated and as her husband I am not sure what to do to help. Does anyone have any suggestions for what might be able to be done. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.