Depending on where she lives, Roses could be fired for any reason or no reason at all. The only things they absolutely can’t fire you for are federally protected categories - religion, gender, national origin, veteran status, etc. If her state has passed laws protecting those or other categories, she would get help there, but it’s very unlikely.
All I can think of is the scene from The Ref.
"Bob? I fucked your wife, Bob. You were in Rhode Island for that conference. Four times, Bob. She said you never went four time.
Bob."
Of course, that really wouldn’t be fair to her husband, if she has one, as he hasn’t done anything wrong.
If RedRoses lives in a right-to-work state, she can be fired because the boss doesn’t like the color of her shirt. It’s shitty, but her situation is not all that uncommon.
I had a friend in college who was fired as soon as her boss found out she was gay. Disgusting, but perfectly legal in my state.
Sorry, RedRoses, no good zingers from me. I’m bad at the snappy comeback.
I’m with Carol, if your boss wasn’t a jerk about firing you, walk out with a smile on your face and try to see her point of view.
She has to cover those shifts when you were gone or work short staffed. Your illness appears to her to be of a long term indeterminate origin. It isn’t fair to your coworkers to have to work short staffed. She can hire someone to replace you, but then when you are healthy, has fewer hours for everyone. It sucks for both of you guys - I’ve never known a manager who likes to fire people - it really sucks - but she has a business to run which depends on employees showing up and being able to do their jobs, and due to illness, you were unable to do that. The customers who don’t come back because she was short staffed and service was slow don’t know and don’t care that the reason you weren’t there was you were sick.
I hope you feel better and find a new job right away.
You work with food and your boss insisted you work? Do you have something like a food health authority to which you could report them? Not on point - you were having a reaction - but on principle - if they want people there when they’re sick, isn’t that dangerous to the paying public?
I agree. But without this bit: “I hope that one day, your concern for my health will be repaid. Jackass.”
That sounds threatening and bitter. Agree with some of the folks who have mentioned the potential pitfalls of “spontaneous” wit, so I think the first part of Chimera’s idea ("“I want to thank you for firing me in the middle of a health crisis. You showed true class, character and compassion.”) is just right.
It’s not a clever and oh-so-witty quip, it’s not lowering yourself, and it’s not threatening. It’s the truth, and it should come off well.
In the US employees are protected from being fired for missing work due to serious health conditions by the Family and Medical Leave Act, but only if they have worked for that employer for a certain amount of time and if the employer is above a certain size. If it’s a small cafe it’s likely below the size requirement (50 employees) and the time of employment is at least a year.
I’m with those who say that a small business terminating someone in these circumstances is not unexpected. No reason for the manager to be unkind about it, but the actual termination is probably what a lot of managers/small business owners would do in the same situation.
Don’t go above and beyond to make your manager feel like a jerk unless she is going above and beyond to be a jerk. And even then, consider the potential downside to yourself.
Pick up your paycheck and leave with your dignity intact.
The truth of the matter is that had you been employed long enough to establish a track record, you would probably still have a job. But you weren’t. I certainly don’t blame you for being ill as it wasn’t your fault but nor do I blame your boss for permanently hiring someone to cover the shifts that you weren’t able to make.
A huge percentage of restaurants fail every year. Since the cafe is brand new, it’s essential that customers are left with a favorable impression. Bottom line is that you weren’t available to cover 7 of your 11 shifts. That puts your boss in a very difficult position. She cut you some slack at first and then made the decision to cut her losses in order to save all their jobs. That doesn’t make her a bad person necessarily.
Yeah, I’m not really getting the outrage here. Maybe she acted like a jerk and I’m just not picking up on the full jerkiness of her actions, but on the face of it, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to me. She needs someone to cover the shifts, and you have failed to do so. Not your fault, of course, but she can’t keep customers happy by explaining your illness to them.
The best snappy comeback is “I’m sorry that things didn’t work out. I hope that when I get my health issues straightened out, I can return to work.” If she responds to that in a negative way, then that’s a green light to go all jerk store on her.
I honestly don’t understand the idea that it is “threatening”. It is an invocation of Karma. And without that second part, there is no indication that the whole thing is SARCASM. BadBoss might well walk away thinking she’s genuinely being thanked for firing the person at that time.
Some people fear conflict or negative emotions so much that they’re afraid to be honest. They try to be subtle about things and then wonder why people don’t pick up on their “clues”. They sacrifice their own self-esteem and their own well being because they fear that the other person will think ill of them, even when they know from the start that the other person DOES think ill of them.
Honestly, are you worried what this person might think of you? Are you worried what others might think of you if you told her off? Are you worried that you may someday have to work with her again? Because I’ll tell you how a conversation with someone else would go;
Person A: I don’t see what your problem is with BadBossBitch. Why can’t you get along with her?
You: She’s the person who fired me after I’d been taken to the emergency room with a severe drug reaction.
Person A (if they have any class): :eek: Oh. Sorry.
I actually like this as a “snappy comeback” It can be taken completely innocently, may actually lead to the job being reestablished (“Tracy just quit with no notice! I wonder if RedRoses is available and feeling better”) and if she is being a jerk (and has feelings) will accomplish the ‘making her feel bad.’
If she is a jerk without feelings, zingers won’t do anything anyway.
Given what I remember about the OP’s previous posts, and knowing from experience what medication is likely to cause that reaction (if it was in fact Stephens-Johnson, or whatever the fuck it’s called). . .
. . .RRFM, is it possible that the employer is responding to the condition for which you take the medication, and not to your missing work? Because that WOULD make them kind of prickish.