This is a second hand story, but after reading a few posts here, I wanted to share.
A co-worker was having headaches, and after an MRI and a biopsy, it was confirmed he had a brain tumor*. He went to tell our department head this, and to say that he'll be needing some time off for obvious reasons. They're response: “This really doesn't work for us right now.” This was hearsay going around the office, but I'm enough of an asshole to sit idly by, so I went and asked the guy. He confirmed it.
This process burned up all of his sick leave, vacation leave, and accrued leave. His dad worked for the same company (different department entirely), and had 1000's of hours of time off (exaggeration, but still). He couldn't donate his time because of company policy. “Well, it wouldn't be fair to others who need the time off and don't get donations.” To compromise on this, the company started a time share program, where you would donate your time off to a pool, and then if you were in the pool, you could draw from it. He wasn't in that. He started to have to balance unpaid days off and coming in well before he should be. He wasn't the sharpest employee before the procedure, but after having a tumor* and sections of his brain messed with, he would sometimes forget what he was doing mid process. We did our best to work to work with him.
*I used this asterisk on tumor twice because it wasn't actually a tumor. He had a cancerous growth in his brain… but it wasn't medically a tumor or even cancer. This is relevant because he was the only person in the company to sign up for the optional cancer insurance. He just felt like, with any insurance, you never know. Well… this happens and it doesn't trigger his OPTIONAL CANCER INSURANCE. Talk about the universe giving you the finger.