- Friend of mine has a father battling cancer. Diagnosed a couple weeks ago.
- She promptly notified HR of the situation and said her upcoming schedule is a bit unpredictable. HR adviced little but aknowledged the situation.
- Last week she notified manger she'd be out of town that weekend, as the family (immediate and extended) gathered for support. She was using PTO for the trip.
- Manger advised that she work on Monday (Labor Day)
- She went out of town, and on Saturday told them she was in another state with family.
- Manger “strongly advised” she return for work on Monday.
- On Sunday night she told management she was still out of town and was unable to be in on Monday.
- On Tuesday she was terminated.
Speculation
- I've never dealt with something like this, so maybe “strongly advised ” means “mandatory attendence” in legal terms?
- The employer has been dealing with layoffs and are already short staffed. Everyone's currently stressed and headcounts matter. Maybe her attendence was mandatory without being explicitly stated?
- The employer deals with a lot of young professionals, and because Labor Day is often a party weekend, the general rumors are that management assumed she was skipping work to party. That part is entirely speculation though- no actual evidence.
Is this a case for wrongful termination? Or just an unfortunate termination during an unfortunate time in this girl's life? If the former, would love more information on how to handle this.