Your Wife Has Cancer? You're Fired

After telling his employer that his wife of 23 years had lung cancer and he would need to work a modified schedule to help care for her, Carl Sorabella was fired from him job. ABC News reports that Kathy Sorabella learned in late April that she had stage 4 incurable cancer. Her husband asked his employer of 14 years, Haynes Management, a real estate company in Wellesley Hills, Massaschusetts, to work a more flexible schedule. This was the response he got:

"When I told my boss, she said 'We were thinking about laying you off.' I thought, 'You can't do that,'" Sorabella told WCVB.

Jobless_in_Ma wrote:This is UNBELIEVABLE! Businesses no longer care about the well being of thier employees nor care about their families. Why bother when there is 15 million with healthy wives ready to go....

LeannaAndPerry wrote:What I believe is this... Employers (the very few we have left) are adding health discrimination to their list of reason not to hire or reasons to get rid of.

Hubby said recently that he knew of..... An actual person in a "Hiring position" who said and I quote...."We do not hire if they seem, look, act or ever speak about being ill". Or have family that is, or is presumed to be ill. The health insurance is just too costly. And he said they get rid of those who are ill. See, the company provides 100% of the Employee's insurance and only 80% of the family plan. Yes, it is costly but the deductibles are high so they can't be paying too awful much. IMHO.

And if the person is taking off more lately due to illness or illness within the family, not only is the company losing valuble hours from the employee but they are still having to pay out of pocket medical coverage every week for that employee , and family if included in plan. So he told my husband it's like this.... It's a "Right To Work State" (Tennessee) and we can fire at the drop of a hat. Doesn't mean your not qualified for unemployment though. It really just means we are going to seek out someone who isn't a finantual threat to our company bank roll for insurance.

It makes me so mad.

But then again I have to think back. Yes, I know what they are talking about. A few years back (before being fired/laid off) family member has insurance and a family plan. His wife was at the dentist, Psychiatrist, medical doctor, obgyn, etc..... Seems like at least once a week or more. She lived in these places. No real extreme need for it. We all thought she had real issues. Because she was doing their children that way too. Always having to go to the doctors for some reason. And one cabinate in their kitchen looked like a pharmacy. So as not everyone acts that way, there are abusers of the system. And they are the key factor in why employers do not hire as openly anymore, and why they get rid of those who are ill or who have family who get ill.

No, I am not a professional or know stats on this. Only first hand knowledge of what I have seen. And it makes sense.

My husband has been working now for a year. He has health insurance, built up Vacation time finally and got a much need whopping .50 raise. He also is 49 yrs. old. And has developed some issues with his left foot. Out of nowhere. Kills him to walk. It stays swollen. And shoots pain through his foot when he walks. But hubby refuses to show (at work) that he is hurting. He doesn't want to lose his job. He knows there is some young man in their prime just waiting to jump on the job. So he worries about weather or not he should see a doctor. Knowing this could go either way.... Good or bad. Yes, his insurance is covered, but he doesn't want to seem like an insurance liability to the company so they won't get rid of him. Well....
I refused to allow him to be in pain any longer, I called and made him an appointment with a Podiatrist.... And that is tomorrow. If he is fired/terminated.... then they just lost a really good employee. But we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

Sorry so long winded.