People rally around 17-year-old fired for not 'personally calling in sick' after being in ER

There is a well-established work etiquette in most companies about sick leave. However, certain situations require understanding from the employers, as sickness comes without a warning. Reddit user u/UnsupervisedMink shared a similar situation on Reddit that could have been avoided if the employer had been more understanding. A 17-year-old employee got fired because she did not inform her boss personally that she wouldn't be attending work while being in the ER, the person shared in the post.

"My [daughter] fainted this morning and ended up in the ER. We were there all morning and she still doesn't feel well," the 17-year-old's mom shared. "She works at [employer] here in South Haven and as soon the incident occurred, they were told. They asked for a doctor's note, so I brought it to them personally, but the owner was extremely rude and I was told that she needed to call," she explained. She expressed that her daughter was at home recovering after fainting in the morning. The family didn't even know why the incident happened.

"This was her first time calling in and we did just that! These people want to call themselves Christians and then do this," the mom shared. She further pointed out that she was not at home when her daughter fainted and the girl's grandmom called to inform the office at 9 AM. The mom dropped in the doctor's note at 1:30 PM. The post also carried a screenshot of the message from the employer, which read as follows, "Hi, seems like it's been a tough day and I am sorry. I have been praying for you. We understand the emergent nature of this morning and appreciate your grandma calling." The employer insisted that they still had to hear from the girl.

"Your mom dropped off the doctor's note, which was signed at 11:46 AM, at 1:30 PM and I asked her to have you call," the message continued. "We've not heard from you and now it's well beyond today's scheduled shift." They added, "At this point, we are terminating your employment. Please let us know when you can return the smock and we will release your payment at that time."

People took to the comments to support the girl. u/III_Quantity_5634 wrote, "Don't forget to give the Department of Labor a jingle, too. It's illegal to withhold a final paycheck on the condition of returning property. They must immediately pay her the final paycheck. They can get their crap back whenever is convenient for her. Check your state labor laws because, in some places, each day they withhold the final pay costs them $$$ in fines."

u/effasteriskck commented, "When I was 17, I was fired from Best Buy. I flipped my car into a ditch, hitting black ice and called my supervisor to let them know I wouldn't be in that day after school and explained what happened. The next day, when I went in, I was informed I had been fired for a no-call/no-show. Apparently, I spoke with the wrong supervisor. Cool. That was the beginning of me having zero respect for a job." u/GrumpygamerSF remarked, "I would like to know what difference it makes who contacts the employer so long as they have the valid doctor's note. Legally, the next of kin can contact the employer in case of emergencies and speak on their behalf."