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HH6/Resident Beerwench
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Woman sees husband off to war, gets fired
Part-time receptionist missed a day of work; employer cites other factorsThe Associated Press Updated: 2:58 a.m. ET Oct. 27, 2005 CALEDONIA, Mich. - A woman who took an unpaid leave of absence from work to see her husband off to war 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., 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 published Wednesday. He added that other factors were involved in the decision but he declined to elaborate. Husband headed off to Iraq
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 soon will be deployed to Iraq, where he will help guard convoys from insurgent attacks. 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. When Boler returned home from Indiana on the night of Oct. 16, a few hours after leaving her husband at the airfield, she said she felt drained by the emotional ordeal. She said she had told her bosses that she would try to return on Oct. 17 but if she could not, she would definitely be back Oct. 18, she said. But on the afternoon of Oct. 17, she received a call from work telling her to come in the following day and get her things because she was being fired. Her pink slip said the reason was she failed to show up for work Oct. 17, a Monday, she said. “If I had even an inkling that I would be fired for not coming in Monday, I would have been there,” she said.
- "Hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on terror. By bringing hope to the oppressed, and delivering justice to the violent, they are making America more secure. "
George W. Bush
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Hard Charger
 
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hmmm... I think there is probably more to his story. I bet she wasn't employee of the month. I have to think that if they gave her the boot, it was for a list of things. That's how it is these days. You know, it's like that in the army now too. You need a folder full of counseling statements.
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
http://www.partamian.net/blog/
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Regular Joe
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mazzi (10/27/2005)
“If I had even an inkling that I would be fired for not coming in Monday, I would have been there,” she said.Says it all for me, she was milking sympathy. Company got tired, she got fired.
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Regular Joe
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I want to be sympathetic, I really do...but this seems a little...I don't know...suspect. Regardless of whether or not there were other factors, as the company says, she said she told her boss. Does that mean a conversation took place or did she just leave a message? Either way, did they ever try to call her back?...I would think so. I know it happened that companies have done this before but they've since started "paying the price". These days various business entities at least make an appearance of going out of their way to try to be more lenient and understanding while still reminding employees, such as this one, that they are running a business. They may, possibly, have made it known to her that they could only stand to lose her for that one day...there's just too much gray here!
LGOPs (Little Groups of Paratroopers)
After the demise of the best airborne plan, a most terrifying effect occurs on the battlefield. This effect is known as the "Rule of LGOPs" This is, in its purest form, a small group of "Pissed-Off American Paratroopers". They are well trained, armed to the teeth and lack serious supervision. They collectively remember the Commanders intent as "March to the sound of guns and kill anyone who isn't dressed like you... " or something like that. Happily they go about a days work! "With all due respect, Sir, nobody told me NOT to blow it up!" 
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Hard Charger
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From a local to Caledonia, Michigan newspaper, because no one here wants to make assumptions based on incomplete or incorrectly reported "facts". Right?
Wife fired for missing work after soldier left for war
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
By Ted Roelofs
The Grand Rapids Press
CALEDONIA -- On Oct. 16 at an Army airfield in Indiana, Suzette Boler wrapped her arms around her husband and through tears wished him the best. Army Spc. Jerry Boler, 45, was bound for Fort Dix, N.J., and duty in Iraq. He expects to put his life on the line guarding convoys from insurgent attacks.
Suzette Boler, of Caledonia, returned home that Sunday night and prepared the next day to return to her receptionist job at a small Caledonia employee benefits firm. She had taken four unpaid days off to see her husband of 22 years off to war.
Late Monday afternoon, Boler, 40, answered the phone. She was told to come in the next day and pick up her things.
She was fired.
"It was a shock," Boler said. "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 Benefit Management Administrators Inc. confirmed Boler was fired for failing to show up for work the day after she bid goodbye to her husband.
"We gave her sufficient time to get back to work," said Clark Galloway, vice president of operations for Benefit Management.
"We are totally supportive of our troops and anything that is necessary to equip them and to encourage them as a company."
But Galloway maintained support was not in any way diminished by the way it handled Boler's employment at the firm. "You cannot connect those dots," he said.
Galloway said Boler's firing was based on "multiple factors" but declined to elaborate. Although Boler said she had nothing to hide and furnished a statement authorizing the company to release her personnel file, Galloway declined to do so.
"We don't want to get into a litigative scenario."
Boler's termination notice said she was fired for "no show" or, more specifically, for failing to show up for work that Monday.
The notice, dated Oct. 17 and signed by human resources manager Edie Hogan, also said: "Met with Suzette regarding spouse leaving for service. Gave her extra time off for over 1 month, had full week off prior to. Told her she must be back on 10-17-05 for work."
Hogan could not be reached for comment.
Boler disputed she took "extra time off" for a month. She said she asked several weeks before her husband's departure if she could leave one hour early each day to spend more time with him. She made up the time each day by coming in a half-hour early and skipping lunch, she said.
"They approved that," she said of that arrangement.
Boler also had a different understanding of when she had to be back at work after her five-hour drive to Indianapolis. Although she and her husband moved to West Michigan 14 years ago, Jerry Boler, a diesel mechanic, decided to remain with his Indiana-based Guard unit, the 150th Field Artillery Regiment.
Boler said she originally was granted two weeks of unpaid time off to say goodbye to her husband. As a part-time employee, she was not given vacation time.
On Oct. 4, she said, she was summoned to Hogan's office and told she was asking for too much.
Boler recalled Hogan asking her, "Would you please do your best to be there Monday morning?"
Boler said she agreed to try but did not know then when her husband would leave. She said she promised to be there Tuesday for certain.
Boler worked for the company for 14 months, making $9 an hour and working three days a week answering phones, entering claims information and greeting visitors and clients.
Boler considered herself a reliable employee with good work habits, noting she worked for 10 years as a supervisor for a truck stop restaurant at U.S. 131 and 76th Street SW.
Michelle Velthouse, former general manager at Country Horizons, recalled Boler worked her way up from a waitress job to supervisor before leaving three years ago. Velthouse considered her a valuable employee.
"She would come in even if she had a day off if we needed help. Whatever I needed, she would do it -- cook, do dishes, she would do anything, Velthouse said. "She was very well-liked."
On Sept. 6, Benefit Management sent Boler a letter congratulating her for a year of service with the firm, adding her "knowledgeable contributions have helped our company become what it is today."
Boler conceded her husband's impending departure was tough on her emotionally and might have distracted her at work in the weeks before she was fired.
"I was more and more worried about what was going on at home, but I did my job," she said.
Her last day at work, Boler said, she sent an e-mail to Edie Hogan and vowed to try to do better.
"I said I would try much harder to keep my private life separate. I told her I would see her on Tuesday," she said.
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Malignant Narcissist
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Definately much more to the story...
 Do you listen to yourself when you talk; or do you just fade in and out?
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JR's Chick
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Yep, this is one side, there's at least one other.
Blacksmith Six
"I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman!" -Homer Simpson
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