Shegerian & Associates: NJ Hostess Threatened With Firing For Attempting to Attend Friend's Funeral
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES, Dec. 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A restaurant hostess in New Jersey, who has chosen to remain anonymous, has shared text messages between herself and her boss. The messages reveal that the employee was trying to find someone to cover her hostessing shift so that she could attend her late friend's funeral.
In response to the hostess requesting that someone else cover her shift, her boss Katie Sanford threatened to fire her. Sanford told the hostess that she would be fired if she attended the funeral, saying "just don't come back for work." The hostess responded with "letting go of someone because of a death is unethical."
The hostess had requested that someone cover so that she could attend the funeral of Michael Scot, a twenty year old student at The College of New Jersey, who was killed in a driving accident
Sanford's husband Ben released a statement clarifying that the hostess was not terminated and the texts, which were made public by a friend of the hostess, were taken out of context. In his statement, Ben noted that while taken out of context, the text messages were unexcusable.
According to Ben, "we carelessly let the stresses of family and business replace professionalism, respect and empathy that every employee and person deserves." The Sanfords also donated $1,000 to the family of the late Michael Sot, the late friend of the hostess.
Carney Shegerian, the founder of Los Angeles-based employee rights firm Shegerian & Associates, has weighed in on the issue.
"The texts between Katie Sanford and the hostess display the need for employees to understand their rights," Shegerian says. "It's critical that companies have policies in place for their employees when emergencies and personal crises arise."
About Shegerian & Associates:
Shegerian & Associates has won clients over $200 million in employment-based disputes and maintains a 98% success rate. We have offices in Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside and New York.
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