December, 2022, I got hired as a customer service agent for a call center job. I had my own cubicle and was basically a help desk for a handful of companies, disputing customer claims via tickets, emails, and phone calls. The work was straightforward, relaxed, and kinda fun. I had minimal supervision and a lot of freedom, and on top of that, even though I was there for nearly 2 months I was one of the hardest working employees in the office. I answered upwards of 30 calls a day compared to the average 10-15 calls my colleagues made. I solved 100 tickets a day and made it a point to work diligently since this is the first job I had that made me feel like I could actually do something right (I'm disabled and very weak so a lot of physical labor from old jobs made it impossible to do anything). I really loved it, I thrived. However, I became very sick within my second week of working and had to take a day off to look after myself. Bosses seemed to not mind (at least, they never approached me regarding it) so I wasn't worried. When I returned to work, I approached my director (my boss' boss who frequented the office and was approachable) to apologize for being ill. I wanted to be transparent and open about what I was going through, hoping she'd see that I truly care about my work and not slacking off because im lazy. Without skipping a beat, she threatened to fire me, siting the right to work law (a law I'm very familiar with). She bragged on and on about how she could fire me for any reason or lack thereof. To be honest, I was kinda heartbroken. I wanted to be honest with her since she was so polite during the hiring process and office parties, reassuring that I could talk to her. I didn't want her to think I was slacking off in my work. I made it a point to show up, even if I threw up several times a day, I worked my ass off harder than any job before that.
Several weeks of me being sick later, I contacted a doctor and they told me to go to the emergency room asap (I won't divulge details, but it was very serious). I contacted my immediate supervisor and she encouraged me to talk to the director, so I did. I politely asked for her time to explain that I needed to go to the emergency room. All she said was “if you need to go then go, but I can't guarantee you'll have your job when you come back,” again, I was appalled. I stood my ground and explained as much as I could, that my condition is why I've been sick for several weeks, throwing up every single day, but she only reassured me that I may come back jobless.
I was in the ER til late at night, called off the next morning (with a doctor's note). Went back to work as usual, still sick of course, and I have a doctor's appointment with a specialist to finally assess my sickness. I had to see the same doctor two consecutive days in a row. I gave my boss as much notice as possible and every bit of paperwork alongside it to back myself up. This of course did not matter, as the day I returned to work RIGHT after being in the ER and going to the doctors day after day to figure out what was wrong with me, they fired me. The director made the decision to fire me for, in their words “outside of company policy” and insisted that my termination had nothing to do with medical history, simply because “this is a bad time”. My boss also insulted me for talking to the director, just approaching her in general was bad. She insisted that I was rude for going above their heads (even though that same boss encouraged me to speak with director since she handles attendance). I cried in my boss' office, begged to keep my job, and she insisted I left immediately. I wasn't allowed to log off my computer, get my things from my desk, or say goodbye to my coworkers. They forced me out and tossed my stuff into boxes outside the office in the fucking rain hours later. I asked to check my desk and make sure it was clean of everything but they denied me, almost acting as if I'd hurt someone because I was crying so hard.
This happened in January 2023, it's been 4 months and I'm still depressed and shocked it happened at all. Thinking about it makes me cry immediately and im certain ill never find a place that I fit in ever again. Nowhere I apply to has even given me an interview and I'm quickly running out of hope. I did manage to get one job for like, a week, but I've already posted about it here- my boss is unreliable amongst other issues.
Either way, I'm sorry for the rant. I'm so tired of going job to job and being treated like this, no matter how hard I work. I think “hard work pays off” is the biggest lie I've ever been told. A lot of people I've spoke about this with insist that being fired was my fault because I should “control” my illness. I don't know anymore.