Woman helps ship off military husband, then gets fired
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Some companies do their darndest to get in the news in the worst kinds of ways. As an example, how about the company that lets one of their part time employees take off a day to see her husband -- who is in the military -- shipped off to Iraq, but then fires her when she doesn't show up the day following the departure -- (reportedly) after having been told in advance by the woman that she may not have been emotionally ready to return to work until the following day.
Though the company cites "other factors" for dismissing the employee, and may be able to legally hide behind such claims (depending upon the labor laws in play in the state), it's certainly a public relations no-no.
The woman wanted time to see off her husband. She took off time without compensation leading up to the deployment date, then took off the deployment date, and went for one more day following that one, and that was apparently the straw that broke the back at the employers, and off the payroll was she.
I swear that some employers do their damndest to show what jerks they can be to military families. I can't say with absolutely certainty this is one of those companies, because the company wouldn't elaborate on those "other factors" for the dismissal (actually they probably can't because of labor laws, potentials for law suits, etc.).
Anyway, original article follows, from MSNBC. Clipped, headline is linked.
Woman sees husband off to war, gets fired
Part-time receptionist missed a day of work; employer cites other factors
CALEDONIA, Mich. - A woman who took an unpaid leave of absence from work to see her husband off to war has been fired after failing to show up for her part-time receptionist job the day following his departure.
“It was a shock,” said Suzette Boler, a 40-year-old mother of three and grandmother of three. “I was hurt. I felt abandoned by people I thought cared for me. I sat down on the floor and cried for probably two hours.”
Officials at her former workplace, Benefit Management Administrators Inc., confirmed that Boler was dismissed when she didn’t report to work the day after she said goodbye to her husband of 22 years.
“We gave her sufficient time to get back to work,” Clark Galloway, vice president of operations for Benefit Management, told The Grand Rapids Press for a story published Wednesday.
He added that other factors were involved in the decision but he declined to elaborate.
Husband headed off to Iraq
On Oct. 16, Boler went with her husband, Army Spc. Jerry Boler, 45, to an Indianapolis-area airfield, where he and others in his National Guard unit gathered to be transported to Fort Dix, N.J. The unit soon will be deployed to Iraq, where he will help guard convoys from insurgent attacks.
Suzette Boler had received permission to take off work the week leading up to her husband’s departure. As a part-time employee at Benefit Management, she did not receive vacation pay and was not compensated for her time off.
When Boler returned home from Indiana on the night of Oct. 16, a few hours after leaving her husband at the airfield, she said she felt drained by the emotional ordeal.
... more at linked article (please see original article for complete story)
Though the company cites "other factors" for dismissing the employee, and may be able to legally hide behind such claims (depending upon the labor laws in play in the state), it's certainly a public relations no-no.
The woman wanted time to see off her husband. She took off time without compensation leading up to the deployment date, then took off the deployment date, and went for one more day following that one, and that was apparently the straw that broke the back at the employers, and off the payroll was she.
I swear that some employers do their damndest to show what jerks they can be to military families. I can't say with absolutely certainty this is one of those companies, because the company wouldn't elaborate on those "other factors" for the dismissal (actually they probably can't because of labor laws, potentials for law suits, etc.).
Anyway, original article follows, from MSNBC. Clipped, headline is linked.
Woman sees husband off to war, gets fired
Part-time receptionist missed a day of work; employer cites other factors
CALEDONIA, Mich. - A woman who took an unpaid leave of absence from work to see her husband off to war has been fired after failing to show up for her part-time receptionist job the day following his departure.
“It was a shock,” said Suzette Boler, a 40-year-old mother of three and grandmother of three. “I was hurt. I felt abandoned by people I thought cared for me. I sat down on the floor and cried for probably two hours.”
Officials at her former workplace, Benefit Management Administrators Inc., confirmed that Boler was dismissed when she didn’t report to work the day after she said goodbye to her husband of 22 years.
“We gave her sufficient time to get back to work,” Clark Galloway, vice president of operations for Benefit Management, told The Grand Rapids Press for a story published Wednesday.
He added that other factors were involved in the decision but he declined to elaborate.
Husband headed off to Iraq
On Oct. 16, Boler went with her husband, Army Spc. Jerry Boler, 45, to an Indianapolis-area airfield, where he and others in his National Guard unit gathered to be transported to Fort Dix, N.J. The unit soon will be deployed to Iraq, where he will help guard convoys from insurgent attacks.
Suzette Boler had received permission to take off work the week leading up to her husband’s departure. As a part-time employee at Benefit Management, she did not receive vacation pay and was not compensated for her time off.
When Boler returned home from Indiana on the night of Oct. 16, a few hours after leaving her husband at the airfield, she said she felt drained by the emotional ordeal.
... more at linked article (please see original article for complete story)
