I’ve recently come across this sub and been reminded of an experience i had back in 2017.
I was working in DC at a chain cafe as an at will employee earning minimum wage. Things were going well then eventually i noticed i was reduced from ~30 hours a week to 6 (one shift rather than 5). When i asked my boss about this he said it’s “performance based” – that they cut my hours significantly because i “looked miserable in front of the customers” (i had just become homeless) and “spent too much time in the bathroom” (i had a UTI).
I explained my situation and they said they’ll give me my shifts back. They never did.
A few days later my coworker told me that they’re doing that because they want me to quit. So after two more weeks of this shit i quit over text message. But now I’m wondering, was there a reason why they didn’t just flat out fire me? Would it have been more beneficial for me to just not show up and eventually get fired? What rights did they screw me out of?