Douchebag of the year: Dr. fires loyal employee after she gets cancer
- Thread starter stinkynuts
- Start date
His action might have been more excusabe had he at least
offered some kind of relief package like a paid leave for a period
of a few months. If his business is run privately he could do
that without breaking any rule. This guy is Scrooge-worthy.
It's all about the Benjamins for some people steeped in the material world.
The bigger the Ego, the lesser the heart.
The bigger the Ego, the lesser the heart.
Just goes to prove you guys need to hear the full story before jumping to conclusions. If anything he helped her by laying her off because she can now collect unemployment benefits:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/13/us/cancer-layoff-doctor-pennsylvania/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/13/us/cancer-layoff-doctor-pennsylvania/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
How do you know that?? Do you know the relationship he has with his employee? Were you there when she got layed off?? How do you know laying her off doesnt create the best source of income for her??
I read a different article on this earlier, and the amount of lies and ass-covering was hilarious. First the doc backtracked by saying the whole purpose of his letter was to allow her to collect unemployment. Like hell it was! It was so he could afford to hire someone that he considered more up to the job. Then the person who posted the letter online said she only did that to inform Jumper's friends that she was unemployed. Yeah, sure that was why! It couldn't possibly be to rouse up anger at the doc, right? A simple message wouldn't do?
It's really an all-around bad situation, but I think people are being way too hard on the doc. I imagine Jumper would be taking a lot of time off with her condition, and that would create problems for the clinic. Why would the doc be expected to pay for a second employee to pick up the slack Jumper was supposed to be covering? He obviously felt she wouldn't be able to perform to the required standards (this is a doctor's office after all). We don't know what kind of financial position that clinic is in. Maybe he could have offered her some financial assistance and he definitely should have offered her some moral support. But "douchebag of the year" is overstating it.
It's really an all-around bad situation, but I think people are being way too hard on the doc. I imagine Jumper would be taking a lot of time off with her condition, and that would create problems for the clinic. Why would the doc be expected to pay for a second employee to pick up the slack Jumper was supposed to be covering? He obviously felt she wouldn't be able to perform to the required standards (this is a doctor's office after all). We don't know what kind of financial position that clinic is in. Maybe he could have offered her some financial assistance and he definitely should have offered her some moral support. But "douchebag of the year" is overstating it.
I don't think you can terminate one's employment just because they get sick, at least here in Canada. You can lay them off but I don't see that as being the Docs intention. Its unfortunate that she didn't have any disability benefits from her employment.
That being said the way in which he communicated this was deplorable. 12 years she had there and he doesn't even offer any sort of severance pay? That qualifies as "douchy"
That being said the way in which he communicated this was deplorable. 12 years she had there and he doesn't even offer any sort of severance pay? That qualifies as "douchy"
Surely this doctor could have got an HR person or lawyer to type a proper letter and release informing her of the lay off?! Or maybe he should have written the letter in doctor's writing so that she couldn't read it and post it to social media. Only in 'merica.
have you not seen that copycraig website? sp..something. you habe an owner posting as 3 different mods and he likes all the posters insulting the women...and he even get a in on it
look at his ip Addy log. mostly all him... that's just plain creepy. and he takes money from those women too
there is your doucebag.
look at his ip Addy log. mostly all him... that's just plain creepy. and he takes money from those women too
there is your doucebag.
I had a similar situation years ago, where I acquired another business, and the two partners became employees. Sadly, within six months, one was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer. We had a decent benefit plan, but over time, those drug costs make their way into the premiums and for a small business, those several thousand dollars a month can be difficult... In our case, it was worse because we had bought this guys company, saving it, and him, from bankruptcy and loosing his home, and because of his illness, he couldn't work, so his clients really never moved over to us.
We didn't fire him, but asked him to resign, because the reality is that his illness and inability to work would have put us out of business eventually. In Ontario, there is something called the Trillium Fund that will cover the cost of drugs for those in need. It was actually WAY cheaper for him to collect this benefit than it was to collect from our insurance company, since there was no co-pay. He understood, but his wife wanted to suit us and continued to threaten to do so long after he had passed away. Remember that this guy was an employee for about six months before he got sick, so as much as I liked the guy, it was difficult to justify risking the business and the livelihoods of 40-odd people for him.
In the case of this Doctor, if he didn't have a benefit plan for his staff, then the best thing for her may have been to terminate her so she could collect a government benefit. As employers, as much as might care about the well-being of an employee, sometimes the fiscal reality of the situation dictates an apparently "harsh" approach
Anyway, my point is that sometimes not everything is the way it appears to be...
Great points. Generally, employers try to look after their employees. There are always bastards out there though. Employers do need to learn how to protect themselves better than this doctor did. A handwritten letter doesn't cut it.
