terminated

catlynLPN · Jun 14, 2008

My opinion? You're better off not working there anyway. It's unfortunate that you are forced to leave by termination instead of on your own terms, but I wouldn't work for someone like that......it's time to go when they start lying to you. Some people in management really let it go their head don't they?

Hope you find other employment soon.

lynn0808 · Jun 14, 2008

yea i really do not want to go back there. what do i do about the reference? or a job inter view?? also i found this:

you believe that you have been the victim of discrimination because of your age, race, sex, disability, national origin or religion.
*you believe you were terminated after complaining about harassment or some other form of discrimination.
you believe you were terminated in violation of a contract or explicit promise concerning the duration of your employment or the circumstance under which you could be terminated.
*you believe your employer is retaliating against you for filing a complaint against your employer for violating local laws (i.e.whistleblowing .)
you believe you were terminated for refusing to perform an illegal or unsafe act for your employer.
*you believe your employer fired you for taking time off for military service, voting, the illness of a child or your own long-term illness.
*you believe your employer violated their company's stated termination policies (for example, you did not receive two written warnings, and your employee handbook specifically states that each terminated employee should receive such.)
you believe you were fired for being in involved in organizing a union.
*you believe it is going to take many months or years to find comparable employment and thus the economic harm you are going to suffer is significant.
*you have sustained serious emotional injuries as a result of how you were treated at work.
*you worked for the employer for many years.
the employer has offered you some severance benefits but wants you to sign a separation agreement containing a release giving up your legal rights.

the ones with the stars apply.

justme1972 · Jun 14, 2008

You are better off not working there, but you have to understand, that your battle began after you were excessively absent versus what happened since they told you that you would be terminated if you missed again.

You were better off showing up to work and having THEM send you home.

I'm not saying your previous absences were not valid, but I have worked with people that always seemed to be gone. They had to take an entire day off to do maintenance on a car, or had to accompany 4 other family members to take "mom" to the doctor, or would call in if they got up and sneezed in the mornings.

Just because a company gives you X amount of days per year, doesn't mean you can take every one of them and still keep your job. Most companies offer rewards programs for time not used or pay it out to you in cash at the end of the year.

I know you are angry, and how they handled the situation wasn't right, however, you need to take a very objective view of how things were in the last few year and ask yourself: Did I really, really need every day off that I asked for?

ok i dont really know where to start so i will try to make this short and sweet. i was terminated after nine years on the job on thursday due to "excessive absenteeism". mind you i have not called off work since october of 2007.
when all of this started i was pulled into the managers office and given a paper to sign that basically said that if i called in again i was terminated. she just happened to skip the offical protocol and i was never given a verbal or written warning.
i signed it and went on about my business. i asked her SEVERAL times for a copy and was never given one. that is just how she is, will tell you what you want to hear and then never give you what you asked for.
in january (i had been off for a while due to surgery) i was called into her office again. she and her "asst" basically bereated me and accused me of refusing to discharge a patient, among other things. she used the "f" word several times screaming in my face telling me she wished she could fire me then, and that all of my co-workers hated me. i ended up in the hospital for chest pain and svt that night. i was to work the next day and i used my "personal" (safe) day for that.
after that i reported her to our hr department and had written about 14 pages in response to her one. i had had enough of her and a few others bullying ways, constant comments about me personally, heavy assignments, etc.
after that i just put it all behind me. went to work my two days and shut my mouth. after a while things seemed to be going ok......
about a month ago she told me she wanted me to do our facilitys program which had to do with extra education and things to get a pay raise, and also to be on the unit leadership committee and pain resource nurse. i really felt that things were looking up and getting better. she also wanted me to take the pccn exam also. when she approached me with this i asked her about the absenteeism issues and if they would hold me back from doing the ladder program (you cannot be in any disiplinary probation to do it). she flat at looked at me and told me NO that that was over with and i was out of that. about two weeks ago i asked her for copies of those dates that i had missed. she said again that I DIDNT NEED TO WORRY ABOUT IT.
well, this week i got very sick very suddenly. tonsils the size of golf balls, fever of 102. would you go to work? this was wednesday that i called off.
on thursday at 3pm i got a call from her and she said sorry to tell you this but i have to terminate you. heres the number to hr if you have any questions.
i point blank asked her why she told me i had nothing to worry about and she FLAT OUT DENIED

lynn0808 · Jun 14, 2008

um, yes. i did. i did not accompany her with 4 other family member to the hospital. the times i missed with her were when 911 was called. trust me. i did not miss work for just any reason. the problem is because i worked too many years for an incompetent manager. on her evaluation she was deemed to be untrustworthy and uncaring.

i am really not interested in any nasty replies. i feel bad enough. i am a nurse with a family to support and no steady job. thanks.

leslie :-D · Jun 14, 2008

well...if you end up retaining an atty, i'm thinking the atty will ask you:

did you apply for and utilize flma?

are you seeking therapy for the emotional distress?

what do your annual performance evals state?

is there a paper trail showing that you were concerned about absenteeism, i.e., what did you do to resolve outstanding issues?

yes, she played downright dirty.

i learned a long time ago:

not to take anyone's word for it- get it in writing and put it in writing.

you can always appeal and go up the chain.

remind them that 9 yrs of service is indeed, an implied contract.

read your p&p manual.

see what their discipline policy is, and see if it was followed.

wishing you the very best.

leslie

DeLana_RN, BSN, RN · Jun 14, 2008

((((( Hugs )))))

This is so sad, another example of why nursing has a loooooong way to go to become a respected profession. This kind of manager and unit are, sadly, just too common.

There were several red flags, but you probably know that when you reported your mgr to HR your career there was over. I'm surprised she didn't get rid of you right then, but I guess she had to be very careful since HR was watching. All the encouraging things she later said were lies, of course. I know how we want to believe things can change, but from my own experience, until (unless) the problem (here, your boss) leaves nothing ever does.

I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm sure you can find a much better place. As for explaining your termination, it shouldn't be hard since it would be irresponsible for you to go to work with the symptoms you describe. You put your patients before your job security, who can fault that?

I wish you the very best,

DeLana :icon_hug:

leslie :-D · Jun 14, 2008

i am really not interested in any nasty replies. i feel bad enough. i am a nurse with a family to support and no steady job. thanks.

many of us have been where you are and know how badly you feel.

however, hopefull2009's response to you was not nasty.

you are going to get replies that require you to examine both sides.

it requires objectivity and honest self-assessment.

try to learn from any forthcoming responses.

afterall, there truly is 2 sides to every story.

leslie

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jun 14, 2008

i am really not interested in any nasty replies.

I have not seen any nasty replies to your original post so far. Keep in mind that these forums are public, and that our membership possesses the right to disagree with your post (or anybody else's post) as long as they are not violating any of the site's terms of service.

By the way, welcome to our online community. I'm so sorry your job ended abruptly with an involuntary termination, and I hope you can find another workplace really soon.

lynn0808 · Jun 14, 2008

i just know that i did not recieve the "official" verbal warning or 1st written warning from her last year. when all of this started. she said she just got behind.

i will appeal it but i do not want my job back there. i was over working there along time ago.

i had interviewd and had another job last december.....but about a week later got a letter that said thanks but no thanks....

i found out that someone gave me a HORRIBLE reference.

i later found out that another nurse applied for a job and she flat out refused to give her any kind of reference.

i have faith that what goes around comes around. karma can really kick your a**. so, i find comfort in that.

thanks to all of the positive responses.

RN1982 · Jun 14, 2008

Yeah, I agree that complaining to HR about your manager kind of did you or shall I say, your job in. I wouldn't be surprised if they were trying to look for reasons to fire you then. It's a very hard situation. One nurse I used to work with was chronically late and had several call-ins. Although she was a very, very good nurse, that did not stop management from terminating her. My advice is next time, use your sick days sparingly, although, if I was running a fever like you were, I wouldn't have gone in either.

On a side note, we're all just trying to be objective. You're not always going to hear or read the response you want. There were no nasty replies to your post. We're trying to help you.

justme1972 · Jun 14, 2008

i found out that someone gave me a HORRIBLE reference.
i later found out that another nurse applied for a job and she flat out refused to give her any kind of reference.

Easy way to check this...have a friend that is experienced in checking for employment backgrounds call this hospital and pretend to 'check' your reference...and then check your state laws on recording a conversation (most states only require one person on the line to know it's being recorded...it's an easy google).

Then you'll find out who your "rat" is.

The hospital CAN say anything about you that can be proven....examples are excessive absenteeism (and can say you were terminated for this reason) that you were late all the time (I'm just giving examples here), that you failed a drug test...anything that is concrete and can be proven.

What they CANNOT say, is things like, "Jamie is a crappy employee and we are glad she's gone".....that is of opinion and a company is setting themselves up for a lawsuit if they tell a future employer anything like that.

If you find your "rat" pay an attorney $50 to send a "cease and dissest" letter informing them they can be sued for slander if they continue the practice....then I would bet money they'll go to a "dates only" policy.

If they won't verify job dates for someone, old paychecks and W-2's can prove previous employment.