reposted because original was taken down.
TW: Miscarriage
The title pretty much says it all. Id been working the last 6 months for a restaurant (as a server) i really, really truly loved working for. It’s probably my favorite job i’ve ever had. In late august, i found out i was pregnant. i was over the moon excited, all ive ever wanted was to be a mother. i never wanted anything out of life other than that. My job knew almost immediately because i really couldn’t contain how excited I was. i also wanted them to know if im moving a little slower, that’s why. the exhaustion was real. i still came to work every day with a smile on my face and put in a full effort. i tried to not let it slow me down too much. prior to being pregnant, i never once called out, was never late (if i was it was a legitimate reason, and no more than 30 minutes, and this was VERY rare for me).
October 23rd, everything came to a stop. I found out that my baby stopped growing and having a heartbeat around 10 weeks- i should have been 12 weeks and 3 days when i found out. I went to the ER and they confirmed it, obviously i was devastated. i communicated what all was going on in a text message to my manager, saying that i needed to sort through everything medically and deal with it emotionally. that same day, i went into my work and brought them a dr’s note, just in case. I was given a medication that would help my body expel everything and took it 4 days after getting the news. The medication didn’t work. I kept my work informed of this, saying i was unable to work because something could happen at any time. i felt it would be better for them to not expect me, than to expect me and i start going through the physical pain of that which takes a few days, god forbid starting during a shift and have to leave. 5 days after trying the medication, i was redosed it, and scheduled for surgery the following week in case it didn’t work again. I let them know absolutely everything going on as it unfolded, being so quick with updates that i would be messaging them from the parking lot of the dr’s office. Of course, with my luck, it did not work. I let them know i’d be having my surgery november 8th, and need 3 days to recover and would be ready to be back on the schedule the next week. I communicated this and got no response, which i did not feel worried about. The day before my surgery, i reached out to a different manager, and in order to not violate community guidelines again, here’s a copy and paste of the text messages:
Me: “just letting you know so that i get this to two managers so that there aren't any miscommunications, but im having surgery tomorrow and that will take 3 days recovery so i will be totally ready to be back next week”
Mgmt: “Hi [OP]. I hope you're doing ok given everything you've been through recently. It's unfortunately on me to tell you, in your absence we had to hire up and we do not have hours for you. I want to be straight with you so you can get another job and not miss any opportunity to get a great gig.
Maybe check out the new Miller's opening by the interstate.. I'm sorry to let you know like this but we have to cover our staff. I know you'll be great in anything you land soon. Thank you for your time here and best of luck.”
im sure this is illegal, and have been considering reaching out to my attorney and asking. i have a guilt around if i were to pursue anything because prior to this nightmare of the last month, i absolutely loved this job and everyone i worked for and would hate to do them like that, but on the other hand, i find their actions repulsive.