12 year employee - LAID_OFF for having cancer

I don't know about anyone else, but, I find this appalling. 12 years on the job and get canned for cancer. My heart goes out for this soul. This is heartbreaking. I hope she has good insurance from the Dr. she worked for. Maybe it was better for insurance if she was laid off. I wish her the best.www.yahoo.com...

a reply to: w8tn4it

Wow what a jerk. This is why I dislike 50% of medical doctors. Half are superb humans. The other half, money hungry animals in a white coat.

She has a good case for a ADA lawsuit.

A medical doctor should know better and should know about the ADA laws.

I hate to say it but would you pay someone to mow your yard even though they can't mow your yard?
This lady will not be able to do her job so he laid her off. He will not pay her but she will get unemployment.
It was heartless to do this with a letter but he had to do it.

a reply to: ANNED

You can be laid off for any number of reasons.
I got laid off from a job for a week because I sprained my wrist and could not weld. I needed a doctors note to COME BACK to work. It was weird.
And generally when you lay someone off, they need to be contacted back for employment if they get better or work is needed again, you can't hire someone else to take their position within' a certain number of months, well that's how it works here in Canada.

originally posted by: tadaman
a reply to: w8tn4it

Wow what a jerk. This is why I dislike 50% of medical doctors. Half are superb humans. The other half, money hungry animals in a white coat.

I think you were emotional while typing that.

As for the story, the letter says that the woman wouldn't be able to function well at work. I also want to quote from the story:

But Kelly told the local Beaver County Times that the meaning of the letter has been misconstrued, and that it was simply a “humanitarian” gesture to allow Jumper to collect unemployment.

Visnich wrote the letter, Kelly explained, “with the understanding that when she is feeling better, she can come back to work.”

He added that the media coverage, which has blown up this week, has been “very disappointing, in that he’s trying to help this woman and he’s made out to be a villain.”

A friend of Jumper’s, John Barkovich, who has been helping to plan fundraisers in support of her treatment costs, told Yahoo Health that the coverage has indeed gotten out of hand. “She wants to drop the whole thing,” he said. “Somebody posted the letter on Facebook with good intentions, to alert friends that Carol is now unemployed.” He added that Jumper “is not worried about the doctor at all, and she made it quite clear to me that she wants [the attention] diffused.”

Why would you go against her wishes by spreading it even further?

The Doctors explanation rings true. She had to have that to get unemployment and qualify for benefits. Had she remained employed she could get neither. That is just a fact and she absolutely would need that letter.

I'd say this is being misunderstood and perhaps an innocent person is being trashed for no good reason, other than gossip.

This could get significantly worse. Follow me through with this til the end of my post before you get upset. For the record here, I once worked for the Department of Employment Security's Unemployment Compensation Division for my state.

The doctor laid this person off; he didn't fire her. He did so "so she could collect unemployment." This is actually what unemployment is designed for, to help workers who were "laid off" due to "LACK OF WORK" when the employer is downsizing or going out of business. In his eyes the doctor did a good thing by using the term "laid off" because this pretty much guarantees her instant unemployment checks for up to two years these days.

Now, if the doctor had "fired" her, then her unemployment would be in jeopardy because if you are fired, you have to justify getting unemployment. It's not impossible, but it's a significantly greater hassle. If you were fired "for cause," then your unemployment can be denied. The doctor THOUGHT he was circumventing this hassle and helping her, but, like I said above, it could get worse.

That's because if you are laid off and collecting benefits, you MUST be "able, available, and looking for work." And potentially you have to prove it by showing you are doing just that. Usually you can submit a form showing who you contacted looking for work and that's the end of it. But the unemployment office has the right to check up on you, and if they suspect malingering, they'll even set you up to see if you are really looking for work.

BUT she was laid off BECAUSE (so says the doctor) she could NOT do the work. That's his claim. Set aside whether this is correct or not for a minute. SO if she CANNOT work because of her battle with cancer, then she is not eligible for unemployment. She is not "able, available, and looking for work."

FURTHER, the doctor committed fraud by laying her off under false pretenses. His business was NOT downsizing, experiencing a downturn in business, nor quitting business altogether. In reality, she was fired because (in theory) she could no longer do the work.

So the doctor, because of his ignorance of the law, has created a real mess here.

I'll let other people address the other issues here. People at my last employer were kept on while they battled clear through cancer, with chemo and the whole bit, and there was never even a hint that they would be laid off, so I think the whole thing is bogus, myself. But I wanted to set forth this wrinkle, because it is a real one.

a reply to: danielsil18

Yeah I was a little emotional. My dog just died and I want to burn.

You are right though. I didnt even read beyond the OP. I just wanted to someone to bark at.

It is a 50/50 in the US as far as doctors though. There is allot of money to be made and that attracts all the wrong type of people.

a reply to: danielsil18

I believe that. The system makes it so you require so much evidence. I hope this was not an employer being uncaring but actually caring.

originally posted by: Hoosierdaddy71
I hate to say it but would you pay someone to mow your yard even though they can't mow your yard?
This lady will not be able to do her job so he laid her off. He will not pay her but she will get unemployment.
It was heartless to do this with a letter but he had to do it.

If she is not physically able to actively seek another job........'pound the pavement' and go to interviews, she will likely not qualify for unemployment.

My husband was hurt on the job.....when it was determined that he would need spinal surgery, his employer 'laid him off', with the reason cited as ' lack of work'.......but his job was advertised in the want ads within three days. Hardly a 'lack of work'................. He'd been there ten years.

The lawyer he consulted after that, told him that the company probably wanted him to apply for the unemployment, there by negating his ability to file for workman's comp or disability.......because to apply for unemployment, he'd have to say he was 'looking for work', which he could not do. Not only did they want to dump him ASAP, they apparently wanted to it in a way that would keep their workman's comp premiums from going up.

A few months ago my company finally had an opening for the position the promised me three years ago. I received a brain injury in july and the day of, as I was being airlifted to hospital, I got a phone call giving me the job. And then when I called back a couple days later, they told me the position was now gone and they started ignoring me.

Five and a half years of loyalty and making their #ty company better, and they rewarded me with not only #ing me over on my promised promotion, but not giving me shifts for my original job. Some people deserve hell.

originally posted by: w8tn4it
I don't know about anyone else, but, I find this appalling. 12 years on the job and get canned for cancer. My heart goes out for this soul. This is heartbreaking. I hope she has good insurance from the Dr. she worked for. Maybe it was better for insurance if she was laid off. I wish her the best.www.yahoo.com...

he shouldn't have let himself get cancer.stop stuffing your face with mcdonald crap and all all sugar crap.you will pay a price with your life or with CHEMO.

CHEMO IS THE THE ULTIMATE PUNISHMENT.

I SHOULD IT should be given to criminals as it is excellent punishment for their evil acts.

CHEMO makes you wish you were dead.