Posted on 10/26/2005 3:40:21 PM PDT by SmithL
Caledonia, Mich. -- A woman who took an unpaid leave of absence from work to see her husband off to war with an Indiana National Guard unit has been fired after failing to show up for her part-time receptionist job the day following his departure.
"It was a shock," said Suzette Boler, a 40-year-old mother of three and grandmother of three. "I was hurt. I felt abandoned by people I thought cared for me. I sat down on the floor and cried for probably two hours."
Officials at her former workplace, Benefit Management Administrators Inc., a Caledonia employee-benefits company, confirmed that Boler was dismissed when she didn't report to work the day after she said goodbye to her husband of 22 years.
"We gave her sufficient time to get back to work," Clark Galloway, vice president of operations for Benefit Management, told The Grand Rapids Press for a story Wednesday.
He added that other factors were involved in the decision, but he declined to elaborate.
On Oct. 16, Boler went with her husband, Army Spc. Jerry Boler, 45, to an Indianapolis-area airfield, where he and others in his National Guard unit gathered to be transported to Fort Dix, N.J. The unit will soon be deployed to Iraq, where he will help guard convoys from insurgent attacks.
Although the Bolers moved to western Michigan 14 years ago, Jerry Boler, a diesel mechanic, decided to remain with his Bloomington, Ind.-based Guard unit, the 150th Field Artillery Regiment.
Suzette Boler had received permission to take off work the week leading up to her husband's departure. As a part-time employee at Benefit Management, she did not receive vacation pay and was not compensated for her time off.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
That's pretty much my view as well. Thanks for the note.
I fail to see the connection.
Perhaps, but then why didn't she call in Monday morning and tell them that she couldn't come in for emotional reasons? I guess it depends on whether or not she really did tell them beforehand that she might take Monday off, like she claims.
Bottom line, I don't know who is telling the truth, and can't draw a conclusion. But neither can the headline writer, who did so anyway.
In this type of he-said she-said cases, I'll automatically take the position of employers. A truly competent employee is extremely rare & worth his/her weight in gold and should be held at all costs--this I've learned from a little managing experience. They wouldn't have fired her if she was a good employee, period.
Agreed.... I think based on the information in the article, we certainly don't have any grounds to go spamming the company with calls and emails as if it has anything to do with support for the military.
If they were expecting her back Monday and they did not plan a temp, or other staffer to cover for her, it's not a minor deal to not have a receptionist. Someone has to be sitting there.
Having one's spouse in the military does not exempt one from being an idiot. She's an idiot.
Boler recalled being asked, not ordered, to start back at her job Oct. 17, the day after her husband left.
The employer ASKED, but didn't ORDER? What kind of weasel-y crap is that?
What do you bet that Clark Galloway and the rest of the brassnuts at that company voted for john F-N-kerry.??
We even got to know the sounds she was going to make when she called in. Yup, we photographed the furniture being delivered on one of those "paid" sick days.
I expect this in Ann Arbor, not in Caledonia.
As Spc. Boler serves in a unit of the Indiana National Guard, I contacted Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels' office as well.
If there is to be an error made in the disposition of this matter let it be an error on the side of respect and compassion for those who serve their country and for their families as well.
Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm
(517) 373-3400
(517) 335-7858 - Constituent Services
FAX:(517) 335-6863
Citizen Assistance Request
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels
(317) 232-4567
Email the Governor
I am pro military and support the war in Iraq. However, I have learned (the hard way) that one needs all of the facts before rushing to conclusions concerning things of this nature. While this incident push's our patrotic buttons for sure, we don't know things such as the time of the send off, how long she was away from work, her previous attendence record and so on. So, suggest we keep our powder dry until we learn more.
Sounds to me like an excuse to get rid of some office deadwood. Now if the VP did elaborate... the deadwood might have a legal complaint.
I am pro military and support the war in Iraq. However, I have learned (the hard way) that one needs all of the facts before rushing to conclusions concerning things of this nature. While this incident push's our patrotic buttons for sure, we don't know things such as the time of the send off, how long she was away from work, her previous attendence record and so on. So, suggest we keep our powder dry until we learn more.
"But the one thing they all had in common was that they'd burned all sick time, vacation time and personal time early in the year - generally for "unscheduled vacation" (that is, calling in sick to stay at home and watch Jerry Springer) or because they were too hung over to come to work.
They then found themselves in a disciplinary status during each subsequent, post-exhausting of benefit leave (vacation, sick, personal) absence."
Absolutely agree with you 100%. After 15 years in management it still amazes me when I have to terminate someone for attendance. All of the places I've worked have had time/attendance policies in the most concrete of terms and it doesn't take a genius to interpret them. Work your schedule shifts, miss so many shifts, you're terminated. Also, I've never worked for a company where FMLA absences counted towards the attendance policy.
I have also had to pick up and drop off my husband for countless lengthy deployments (at unimaginable times of the day), but I still managed to make it to work on my scheduled days!!
If you work under the assumption that an office manager is a self-centered martinet who can do little or nothing to actually get things done, but is gifted at causing great harm to efforts to do the work of the business, you will very rarely be incorrect.
"But you can't hold THAT absence against me. It's not my fault I was arrested."
Oh that's a good one!! I'm sure you kept a straight face the entire time.....
THAT employee got arrested.
Then the cop asked if the other employee could drive the car back to our facility. Before the cop would let him go, though, he asked for the guy's license. The cop ran it, found that he also had a warrant and then put him in cuffs, too.
The guys missed two days of work each. They could not understand why this would not be counted as an excused absence!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.