I'm not the only one angry about this!

:furious: I read this on CNN. A woman was fired when she returned from seeing her husband off to Iraq. I looked up Benefit Management Administrators website, it's down. I found their number to call, mailbox was full. Haahhahahha.
Guess I'm not the only one hot over this. They could have shown her some understanding, it might have been the last time she ever sees her husband. She was a part time receptionist and took leave without pay.
That company would surely be out of business if it happened here at Fort Hood.


http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/10/27/wife.fired.ap/index.html

SadieMae said:

:furious: I read this on CNN. A woman was fired when she returned from seeing her husband off to Iraq. I looked up Benefit Management Administrators website, it's down. I found their number to call, mailbox was full. Haahhahahha.
Guess I'm not the only one hot over this. They could have shown her some understanding, it might have been the last time she ever sees her husband. She was a part time receptionist and took leave without pay.
That company would surely be out of business if it happened here at Fort Hood.


http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/10/27/wife.fired.ap/index.html

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Sadie, This is very bad PR for this company. Unless they are stupid, they will probably apologize and ask her to come back............I hope!

i think a monetary settlement is in order! in addition a federal fine! not sure about federal law in respect too married couples and being called too serve over seas. but i would think there should be allowances for spouses and children of service people! truth be known the company is more likely owned by china like most things in america is quickly becoming

daveknowshow2 said:

i think a monetary settlement is in order! in addition a federal fine! not sure about federal law in respect too married couples and being called too serve over seas. but i would think there should be allowances for spouses and children of service people! truth be known the company is more likely owned by china like most things in america is quickly becoming

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I see the emotional toll it takes on the wives, children and even husbands who have a loved one deployed every day. We are going through a large deployment now for the 4th ID for their SECOND time in Iraq. When my now ex deployed for Desert Storm, I couldn't eat or sleep for weeks and he was active military. It took a while for me settle down and get used to it. Her husband was taken from a normal job, normal lifestyle to become a soldier again with the Guard. That's got to extra stressful.

Bless all of our heros that lay their life on the line everyday to serve and protect our country.:innocent: Also, bless the families behind the heros. They are awesome. :angel:

I am infuriated over this too. This company had better watch it - there are LOTS of people pretty angry.

I wonder though - just being devil's advocate here because I fully believe she should have all the time off she needs (ESPECIALLY if it's unpaid - just hire a temp to answer the danged phone for a couple of weeks, already) if her husband is being shipped out...but...

Again - don't shoot me - but I wonder if there were any preformance issues, history of extended or unexcused absences, etc.? My own boss (subsequently fired) took three weeks off because his mother-in-law died at age 90+ after a long illness and he was so traumitized - and for a whole plethora of other reasons as well. It is terrible, but some people will use any excuse not to go to work.

Hbgchick said:

I am infuriated over this too. This company had better watch it - there are LOTS of people pretty angry.

I wonder though - just being devil's advocate here because I fully believe she should have all the time off she needs (ESPECIALLY if it's unpaid - just hire a temp to answer the danged phone for a couple of weeks, already) if her husband is being shipped out...but...

Again - don't shoot me - but I wonder if there were any preformance issues, history of extended or unexcused absences, etc.? My own boss (subsequently fired) took three weeks off because his mother-in-law died at age 90+ after a long illness and he was so traumitized - and for a whole plethora of other reasons as well. It is terrible, but some people will use any excuse not to go to work.

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I found another story where she said she wanted her employment folder released because she has nothing to hide. She had a good work record. But, the company said it's a violation of privacy to do that. Makes me think they want to hide. What they did is inexcusable and Mr Galloway needs to be fired. Very, very stupid move. IMO.

SadieMae said:

I found another story where she said she wanted her employment folder released because she has nothing to hide. She had a good work record. But, the company said it's a violation of privacy to do that. Makes me think they want to hide. What they did is inexcusable and Mr Galloway needs to be fired. Very, very stupid move. IMO.

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Ah - good to know. Thanks SadieMae!

i wish someone would post a linc too this company or a phone number a lot of us may want too call and keep calling till phones or site is back up and running!

power in numbers

Hbgchick said:

Ah - good to know. Thanks SadieMae!

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I found the story...
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-25/1130338189209260.xml&coll=6

From a different perspective:

She had permission from her company to have a week off. She had a week off. Her husband left on October 16, 2005. She was required to return to work after she saw him off and after a week. That would be October 17, 2005.

She decided she wanted an additional day. She did not have permission for this extra day. She seems to be under the impression that she decides when she is going to return to work, not the employer.

The employer and her agreeed for her to return to work October 17, 2005, the employer was not agreeable to her coming in on October 18.

Therefore they did fire her with cause. An employee just can't decide when they will come to work, that is up to the employer by mutual agreement.

She was unpaid because she was a part-time employee.

Therefore she was fired for cause..........I have a funny feeling that this may have been the "last" straw" and other "factors" were involved with her job that may have lead up to her firing.

The reason that she was fired: She did not return to work as required on October 17.

No lawsuit here.........not at all...........

daveknowshow2 said:

i wish someone would post a linc too this company or a phone number a lot of us may want too call and keep calling till phones or site is back up and running!

power in numbers

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www.benefitsthatfit.com the site is down

616-891-1984 Message says mailbox is full

616-891-1616 phone number from yahoo white pages for Mr. Galloway in Caldonia, MI.. Number stays busy.

On a note there is another website for a company with the same name, www.bmatpa.com that states as soon as you go there they are NOT the company that fired Mrs. Boler. Wow, I am really glad to know I'm NOT the only one p*ssed off about this.

CyberLaw said:

From a different perspective:

She had permission from her company to have a week off. She had a week off. Her husband left on October 16, 2005. She was required to return to work after she saw him off and after a week. That would be October 17, 2005.

She decided she wanted an additional day. She did not have permission for this extra day. She seems to be under the impression that she decides when she is going to return to work, not the employer.

The employer and her agreeed for her to return to work October 17, 2005, the employer was not agreeable to her coming in on October 18.

Therefore they did fire her with cause. An employee just can't decide when they will come to work, that is up to the employer by mutual agreement.

She was unpaid because she was a part-time employee.

Therefore she was fired for cause..........I have a funny feeling that this may have been the "last" straw" and other "factors" were involved with her job that may have lead up to her firing.

The reason that she was fired: She did not return to work as required on October 17.

No lawsuit here.........not at all...........

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I agree she probably has no grounds for a lawsuit, and her coming back to work a day later is a good reason for firing. But is the bad PR for that company worth it? This story is everywhere on the net, and like me a lot of others saw red. Maybe I'm extra sensitive to this because I live at Fort Hood, the biggest military post in the world. I know what a soldier going off to war does to a family. I see and work with these families everyday.

CyberLaw said:

She had permission from her company to have a week off. She had a week off. Her husband left on October 16, 2005. She was required to return to work after she saw him off and after a week. That would be October 17, 2005.

She decided she wanted an additional day. She did not have permission for this extra day. She seems to be under the impression that she decides when she is going to return to work, not the employer.

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That makes all the difference. That's a rather critical detail. Her company let her see her husband off. They even gave her a whole week off to see him off properly. That's ridiculous that she is now making such a huge fuss over being fired for choosing not to return to work at the end of her vacation. I hope the company can get that message out successfully.

I think the bad PR is worth it, better than having an employee you can't ever fire who is a slacker. I hate people who take advantage of people's goodwill like that. The bad PR hopefully can go away if the company can get the message out - they gave her a whole week to say goodbye. That's pretty generous in my book.

It certainly sounds as if hers is not the only side to the story. I'm not going to be too quick to jump on the "bombard the employer with nasty letters" bandwagon. It sounds as if they were very generous with allowing her the time off and she took advantage.

Details said:

That makes all the difference. That's a rather critical detail. Her company let her see her husband off. They even gave her a whole week off to see him off properly. That's ridiculous that she is now making such a huge fuss over being fired for choosing not to return to work at the end of her vacation. I hope the company can get that message out successfully.

I think the bad PR is worth it, better than having an employee you can't ever fire who is a slacker. I hate people who take advantage of people's goodwill like that. The bad PR hopefully can go away if the company can get the message out - they gave her a whole week to say goodbye. That's pretty generous in my book.

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Sorry, but I totally disagree with you. One week is not long enough to prepare to say goodbye, not one month, not one year. I've been there! Wives here have known 6 month ago their husbands units are going back to Iraq. Do you think any of them are ready for them to leave? Think about this. If your spouse was leaving and you might not ever see them again alive, how much time would you want to say goodbye to him? From all accounts I've read, she was not a "slacker". Her husband could have been a civilian, but no, he made himself available to be called if needed by his country being in the National Guard. He had to leave his regular job to serve. My ex was active Army, so him going to serve in Desert Storm was his job. That didn't make it any easier for me.

I agree with CyberLaw, in that she didn't have permission to be out that day and she very well may not have grounds for a lawsuit.

She was counting on just the type of publicity she's getting, IMHO, making the company look bad and causing them bad PR. Unfortunately for the company, they don't have the luxury of going to the press with their total story. The only thing the company can say is that there are 'other' reasons for her termination (IMO, then they should have put those other reasons on the pink slip as well, not just that she didn't show up for work on 10/17). Without the woman's full personnel file, it's impossible to make an accurate judgement. But many people take a story at face value and run with it, as does the media.

Perhaps this just might have been the straw-that-broke-the camels-back. IF this woman was already on a short string with this company, it would have behooved them to wait a little while and use another instance to fire her. Now, if they rehire her because of the publicity, they'll never be able to let her go. IF they don't rehire her, even if within their legal rights, some hot- shot attorney will run with this, whether she has a case or not. IMO, they'll probably end up setteling out of court.

I truly feel for the woman and her husband and I appreciate their sacrifice; but, I think she may be taking advantage of the situation and of people's compassion and of the media. IF she's interviewed, I would like a little more explanation from her, like what did her employer mean about 'other' circumstances and when she told them it might be 10/18, rather than 10/17 when she returned, did they agree to it (what exactly did they say?)?

FWIW and IMO, IF they just wanted to get rid of her in the first place, they were stupid to use this excuse. :chicken: Whether it's true or not, stupid, stupid excuse.

JMHO
fran

SadieMae said:

Sorry, but I totally disagree with you. One week is not long enough to prepare to say goodbye, not one month, not one year. I've been there! Wives here have known 6 month ago their husbands units are going back to Iraq. Do you think any of them are ready for them to leave? Think about this. If your spouse was leaving and you might not ever see them again alive, how much time would you want to say goodbye to him? From all accounts I've read, she was not a "slacker". Her husband could have been a civilian, but no, he made himself available to be called if needed by his country being in the National Guard. He had to leave his regular job to serve. My ex was active Army, so him going to serve in Desert Storm was his job. That didn't make it any easier for me.

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So, should they have given her 6 months or a year? Don't forget, they have a business to run and counted on her to be there. How much saying goodbye could she do, once he had already gone?

SadieMae said:

Sorry, but I totally disagree with you. One week is not long enough to prepare to say goodbye, not one month, not one year. I've been there! Wives here have known 6 month ago their husbands units are going back to Iraq. Do you think any of them are ready for them to leave? From all accounts I've read, she was not a "slacker". Her husband could have been a civilian, but no, he made himself available to be called if needed by his country being in the National Guard. He had to leave his regular job to serve. My ex was active Army, so him going to serve in Desert Storm was his job. That didn't make it any easier for me.

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So her company should have given her unlimited time off? Even after he was gone? Sometimes a company can't or won't give you any time. A week is generous. A month (let alone a year!) is just not even possible, nor is it reasonable for a small company. It's tough, it's what they signed up for, and it's what my mom and my family dealt with, without such an understanding employer, when my dad went overseas for Vietnam. You have the weekends, that's all there was.

You can't ever be ready - a year or a week. But if you need a ton of time - quit your job. You still have a responsibility to them too, and they can't just let everyone take as long as they like off, especially after the husband is already gone.

That's where I was coming from too - but they say that there was agreement that she MIGHT take the 17th off, and she feels that it was not made clear to her that she needed to show up then. True?