Hello fellow steppers! I haven't posted in a LONG time, not that it means that there's no drama/excitement.....
SS17 - high-functioning autistic - got his FIRST job this summer at a local sandwich shop. He was so proud and we were proud of him! He only worked a few hours a week, since they have band practice/camp over the summer and he usually visits his BM on weekends. He got this job through the Special Education program at his school.
When school started he worked even less, but it didn't bother him. At this point, he had never been late or missed a shift.
Then one week, after not having worked for 2 weeks, he was scheduled for one evening. He wrote the wrong day on our calendar, and went in on a Thursday instead of Wednesday.
He was fired via a chat app that the company uses.
The language and tone that the manager AKA Sandwich Nazi had in her chat was HARSH. You would have thought that SS17 was the laziest goof off and that he abandoned his co-workers at some sort of ultra-important job. SS17 "violated company policy". SS17s response was picture perfect, I was so proud. He took full accountability for his mistake, said what he would do in the future to avoid making the same mistake, and asked for another chance.
RUDELY DENIED.
DH was FURIOUS. He called the shop and spoke to Sandwich Nazi who refused to give the name of the owner.
So I go to the sandwich shop and start taking pictures of their licensing so I can figure out who the owner is. Sandwich Nazi approaches, I tell her why I'm here and ask her if she feels like a "big tough manager" by firing an autistic boy. I asked if she consulted at ALL with the Special Ed department that ARRANGED for SS17 to have the job and she just repeated that he "violated company policy" and scampered out the front door.
I finished my pics and slowly walked to the front door, LOUDLY describing what all had happened. Then I saw the little box on the counter that took donations for Autism. I told them they had NO right to take donations for Autism when they just FIRED a kid for his first offense. And it was pretty obvious that SS17 made a mistake and wasn't just blowing off his shift.
I am usually the first person to be all over SS17s butt about taking responsibility and stuff, but this was over the top excessive. Most retail shops have a "3 strikes" or other type of policy for no call/no shows. Especially in this job market.....EVERYONE is hiring now.
So DH gets a call from the owner. I apparently freaked out Sandwich Nazi. Turns out the owner is married to the daughter of one of our city's richest and most prominent families. Oh boy. The call went well, the owner said that the person who coordinated all of the jobs with the Special Ed department didn't work there anymore, but Sandwich Nazi definitely did not handle this correctly. DH was satisfied.
SS17 learned a valuable lesson and is applying for another job at a local pizza place. Go SS17!!