Woman Files Suit Against Employer Who Fired Her Hours After Cancer Diagnosis

[dmcowen674]

1-30-2014

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/01...r-who-fired-her-hours-after-cancer-diagnosis/

Woman Files Suit Against Employer Who Fired Her Hours After Cancer Diagnosis



he day Elisa Madonia learned she had cancer, she thought things couldn’t get any worse, but they did.


She says just a few hours after her doctors told her employer she would need some time off for cancer treatments and surgery, they fired her.

Madonia’s ordeal began last October, right after doctors told her she had stage three esophageal cancer.


Doctors sent her employers letters about her illness and her possible need for some significant time off for chemo, radiation and surgery.



Less than two hours after getting that letter, Madonia says her boss called her in to the office, suggested she resign and offered to pay six months of COBRA if she signed a separation letter. Then they terminated her.

 

[dmcowen674]

This is the true face if the "Job Creators".

I am sure the majority if the rabid right on here would do the very same thing.

 

[momeNt]

I

a

 

[momeNt]

don't care.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Quit thinking employers have an obligation to be your friend.

If you call a plumber that gets paid strictly as an independent contractor for jobs - You want him to come out and fix your toilet piping next week. Next week rolls around, he says he has cancer and can't make it for a few more weeks. You say "Your services are no longer needed, I'll just hire a different plumber".

How is that in A-N-Y fucking way different?

 

[Squeetard]

^^BS. Treat your employees like shit and they will do shitty work. The rest of the staff see's this and now they know the place is crap and they have no job security. I would give zero shits if I worked there.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Quit thinking employers have an obligation to be your friend.

If you call a plumber that gets paid strictly as an independent contractor for jobs - You want him to come out and fix your toilet piping next week. Next week rolls around, he says he has cancer and can't make it for a few more weeks. You say "Your services are no longer needed, I'll just hire a different plumber".

How is that in A-N-Y fucking way different?

Well, we had a person who managed all our rental properties (well, when I say "all", I meant two - not that many at all). When she called us saying she got cancer and she'd need time off to have surgery and chemo, my dad basically said, take all the time you need, I'll manage it in the meantime.

So...I guess in New Zealand when people get cancer other people show empathy instead of kicking them when they're down?

 

[Doppel]

This is the true face if the "Job Creators".

I am sure the majority if the rabid right on here would do the very same thing.

No worries, Mcowen, if I were your employer I would fire you even without a cancer diagnosis, just like all your other employers have done.

 

[nehalem256]

Isn't this exactly how liberals argued businesses should act in the contraception mandate thread?

Businesses shouldn't care about anything other than the bottom line, and shouldn't worry about pesky moral issues. Clearly this woman would hurt the bottom line and therefore the firing was justified.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Quit thinking employers have an obligation to be your friend.

If you call a plumber that gets paid strictly as an independent contractor for jobs - You want him to come out and fix your toilet piping next week. Next week rolls around, he says he has cancer and can't make it for a few more weeks. You say "Your services are no longer needed, I'll just hire a different plumber".

How is that in A-N-Y fucking way different?

if you cannot see how that is any different you have severe comprehension problems!

Plumbers are contract employees.

This woman was employed by her employer and that was her only full time job.

That plumber on the other makes his living going from job to job as people call.

You really are not this dense that you cannot see the difference.....

 

[theeedude]

http://www.yelp.com/biz/s37-management-mount-prospect

Does not look like a good company to work for.

 

[nehalem256]

if you cannot see how that is any different you have severe comprehension problems!

Plumbers are contract employees.

This woman was employed by her employer and that was her only full time job.

That plumber on the other makes his living going from job to job as people call.

You really are not this dense that you cannot see the difference.....

Seems that on a practical level neither the woman nor the plumber would have a source of income anymore.

 

[Newell Steamer]

This is the true face if the "Job Creators".

Hey, I'm sure they'll hire someone else to fill her job,.. so, they ARE creating jobs!!



It's pretty sad. But, I am honestly not surprised.

 

[Zorba]

Quit thinking employers have an obligation to be your friend.

If you call a plumber that gets paid strictly as an independent contractor for jobs - You want him to come out and fix your toilet piping next week. Next week rolls around, he says he has cancer and can't make it for a few more weeks. You say "Your services are no longer needed, I'll just hire a different plumber".

How is that in A-N-Y fucking way different?

One it is illegal...

Also employers generally want/demand complete employee loyalty. When was the last time you demanded that a plumber do no work for anyone else? BTW: The company knew what they were doing was wrong, which is why they offered to pay her COBRA to get her to sign a termination agreement.

This mentality is exactly why we must have labor laws, and why Unions still have a place in the United States. Employees should be treated as humans, not as just another piece of machinery.

 

[Zorba]

Isn't this exactly how liberals argued businesses should act in the contraception mandate thread?

Businesses shouldn't care about anything other than the bottom line, and shouldn't worry about pesky moral issues. Clearly this woman would hurt the bottom line and therefore the firing was justified.

Show me where any liberal on this forum said that a company should fire a sick employee to protect the bottom line.

 

[HumblePie]

Which is why I'm all for getting rid of the insurance sham of an industry for health care in this country. Single payer, or government run hospital options, or both.

But that company did a douchie thing. The whole reason for company subsidized healthcare was it was originally an enticement to bring perspective labor recruits to work for them on a promise of healthcare payments in addition to a wage.

Now that employers are forced to pay healthcare subsidized payments, or pay a fine, it is no longer a market driven factor. But a government forced one. Which is a side topic of why I rather see single payer and just tax business for the program based off worker count and wages.

In this instance though, she should have legal grounds to stand on to sue the shit of the employer if they fired her for not wanting to fulfill their employment agreement with her. Which is to pay her a wage as well as subsidized healthcare for her labor.

 

[HumblePie]

Quit thinking employers have an obligation to be your friend.

If you call a plumber that gets paid strictly as an independent contractor for jobs - You want him to come out and fix your toilet piping next week. Next week rolls around, he says he has cancer and can't make it for a few more weeks. You say "Your services are no longer needed, I'll just hire a different plumber".

How is that in A-N-Y fucking way different?

Way different. I didn't promise the plumber to subsidize his time and healthcare for the contract job. I pay a plumber on a contract. They are either able to fulfill their end of the contract or not. Extenuating circumstances, unless written into the contract, be damned. Your analogy is a false equivalency logic error. They are not similar enough to use as an analogy on this level at all.

 

[Zorba]

Way different. I didn't promise the plumber to subsidize his time and healthcare for the contract job. I pay a plumber on a contract. They are either able to fulfill their end of the contract or not. Extenuating circumstances, unless written into the contract, be damned. Your analogy is a false equivalency logic error. They are not similar enough to use as an analogy on this level at all.

That is completely true. But I think most contractors that had been working with the same plumber for years (closer to an employee relationship) and had gotten good work/performance out of them, would figure out how to work it out. Maybe they would use someone else in the mean time, but they wouldn't say "fine we will NEVER use your services again," which is basically what this company did to their employee.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Sounds like that company didn't have Short Term Disability insurance.

I have 6 months for short term at 100% pay and after that long term that pays 60%. Currently I've been out on short term (rotator cuff injury/surgery) for almost 3 months and most likely won't return until sometime in April.

 

[Moonbeam]

No worries, Mcowen, if I were your employer I would fire you even without a cancer diagnosis, just like all your other employers have done.

Do you really want to be so small minded as to say something like that. I don't see anything in your post but cruelty. What a shame.

 

[Moonbeam]

Quit thinking employers have an obligation to be your friend.

If you call a plumber that gets paid strictly as an independent contractor for jobs - You want him to come out and fix your toilet piping next week. Next week rolls around, he says he has cancer and can't make it for a few more weeks. You say "Your services are no longer needed, I'll just hire a different plumber".

How is that in A-N-Y fucking way different?

I got bids from three plumbers and told two of them I wouldn't be needing their services. None of them were sick, that's just how fucking ruthless I am.

 

[HumblePie]

That is completely true. But I think most contractors that had been working with the same plumber for years (closer to an employee relationship) and had gotten good work/performance out of them, would figure out how to work it out. Maybe they would use someone else in the mean time, but they wouldn't say "fine we will NEVER use your services again," which is basically what this company did to their employee.

I agree. If I had an outstanding work relationship with a contractor I've used in the past, I would figure a way to make it work as needed. I've already mentioned the company was douchie. I wouldn't want to work there or do business with them now that I know their policies in how they treat employees. I was pointing out that the analogy that the other person made using the plumber was just bad in the way he was trying to draw parallels between those two very dissimilar scenarios. The equivalency he used was not even remotely good for an analogy, let alone to toss it out there as if it was and for a strawman argument. Bleh. Crap argument is crap.

 

[Squeetard]

if you cannot see how that is any different you have severe comprehension problems!

Plumbers are contract employees.

This woman was employed by her employer and that was her only full time job.

That plumber on the other makes his living going from job to job as people call.

You really are not this dense that you cannot see the difference.....

Why did you quote me?

 

[davmat787]

No worries, Mcowen, if I were your employer I would fire you even without a cancer diagnosis, just like all your other employers have done.

lol, nice burn dude. WOW.

 

[Zorba]

I agree. If I had an outstanding work relationship with a contractor I've used in the past, I would figure a way to make it work as needed. I've already mentioned the company was douchie. I wouldn't want to work there or do business with them now that I know their policies in how they treat employees. I was pointing out that the analogy that the other person made using the plumber was just bad in the way he was trying to draw parallels between those two very dissimilar scenarios. The equivalency he used was not even remotely good for an analogy, let alone to toss it out there as if it was and for a strawman argument. Bleh. Crap argument is crap.

My post wasn't meant for you it was meant for him and his stupid analogy. I was trying to add to your argument by saying you wouldn't can a plumber you had a long term relationship with, which is a *slightly* better analogy. But your point remains either way, a contractor and employee are completely different.