Fired..and still upset. their word against mine

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I work as a Direct Care professional not a CNA but I did pass the test months ago and received my STNA.

There has been some mistakes in scheduling where I work. I work in home health. I normally work friday, sat and sunday however I picked up hours from 2:30-10 last Thursday since they needed coverage in the home. I sometimes call in to ask if theres any houses that need coverage to make some extra money.

I went to go pick up the consumer form her job and someone was already there! So we called the person that does scheduling and the lady who was working gave me her phone. I talked to him and he said that he was sorry and for me to give her my shift and that she was supposed to work it. I said okay and then we both said bye and hung up. So I figured I was not working at all since I heard no direction to go elsewhere.

This is not the first time this has happened! This is the third time this has happened where I talked to the guy in scheduling to cover for a house and someone already working the shift and being sent home! So I would go home during those times and no call ins for me to go in.

I find it absolutely unprofessional . Gas prices are high. So anyways I went home. I had my phone on vibrate and was not near my phone. Late at night I see that I have a missed call. On the voicemail guy says:"Hey I was wondering if you are going to the shift at ____." I was confused because he never told me to go to another house!

So I get a phone call from my boss Friday morning and they said I missed the shift and for me to go to the office! They said he directly told me to go to another house. He never told me to! I Was fired! They said I could write a grievance and that it would be investigated but Im now at loss. I have bills. I did write a grievance and talked to someone in the office yesterday but its not a guarantee that id get my job back.

Its not in my character to not just show up. I always show up on time. I never called off. The boss said that another person in scheduling backed him up saying that he told me to go there. The supervisor in scheduling said that he was calling me all day trying to reach me but there was one missed phone call where I saw Thursday night. Also when I wrote a grievance the lady said he ..told her he only called twice. He said he called and it didnt go through and the second time it went to voice mail. So its like the story changed from calling all day to twice? I dont understand because I never heard him directly tell me to go to another house and if he did I would have went. :(. Im just still upset about it.

Now I have to go back out and look for a job. I find it hard to say why I was terminated. Like I said before I never have been fired and the previous jobs before could even say that I always showed up to work. But will it matter?

Advice please...

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*edit*

Got a phone call to talk to someone in the office today. they said i need to talk to them to be put back on schedule.! this sounds like a good sign

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This type of thing happens with hh agencies. The caregiver is sacrificed with lies by the staffing coordinator. You can often catch some of them in lies. I would be very careful going back to them. Someone realized that you had grounds for a wrongful termination suit and they are covering their behinds. I would look for another job and I would also consult with an employment attorney or the employment department about whether you should return under these circumstances and what the consequences could be. You don't want to return only to be terminated two months from now under another set of trumped up charges with plenty of "paperwork" to back up those charges. Get where I'm going with this?

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you are right. Im scared to be honest. I know I need a job because I have bills to pay so I will take it for now and still look for a job and if someone hires me send them a 2 week notice. The fact that this has happened still makes me very upset. I had a depressing week worried how I was going to pay bills, etc.

How much is an employee attorney? I dont really have that much money right now.

Yeah the person in the company that left a voicemail said she wanted to talk to me to get me back on schedule so ill ask about the consequences and if I was written up , etc. tried reaching her earlier but she was out of lunch.

I did write a grievance before and talked to someone higher up in the company yesterday and they said they would talk to the higher up people to investigate but it took one day ..so I dont know. strange.

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You can often find an attorney who will do a 30 minute phone consult for free. Or, you can call the modest means panel of your local bar association for a referral to a low cost clinic.

An appointment can be made and they charge on a sliding scale, perhaps $25. You can call the labor board on the off hand that someone there would advise you or you can call the employment department and ask someone if you don't go back can you get unemployment benefits. Argue the case that you were constructively dismissed. But probably the wisest thing to do is to go back, keep your mouth shut, your back against the wall, and take the first job offer you can get. The sooner you get a new job, the better off you will be. After all, you said this was the third time something like this happened. They will concoct a piece of paper for each of those three times and then some. Good luck.

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Thank you so much. That sounds like a good plan. I hope to get another job offer and send in my 2 week notice.

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