Worker praised for quitting job after boss said that dog’s death wasn’t the ‘best reason’ to miss work

In a now-viral Reddit post, the woman shared the text exchange she had with her boss when she quit

Amber Raiken
New York
Wednesday 20 July 2022 01:04 EDT
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(pixabay)

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An employee has been praised on Reddit for quitting her job after her boss said that death of her dog wasn’t the “best reason” to miss work.

In the popular group “Anti-Work,” user hopechyann shared a screenshot of her text messages with her employer. The caption of the post reads: “And I oop.”

The text conversation begins with Hope, as she calls herself in the first text, telling her boss that she had a “family emergency” and couldn’t “come in” to her job that night. In response, the manager writes: “Start calling around. You need to get it covered. What’s your emergency[?].”

The worker went on to explain that she would “try” to get someone to take her shift, before noting how she had just “put [her] family dog down”. The boss then pushed back and says the dog’s passing wasn’t exactly a justifiable “reason” to miss work.

“That’s not the best reasons to tell me you’re not coming into work,” the message reads.

In her reply, the woman then told her boss that she would be leaving the company and was going to be giving her notice.

“Okay,” she wrote. “I’m also turning in my two weeks but if you need something written, I can do that as well.”

The boss simply replied with: “I’ll just figure out tonight.”

As of 18 July, the post has more than 53,500 upvotes, with Reddit users in the comments saying that the manager should have been the one to find coverage for Hope’s shift.

“How is it normal that [you have to] ‘start calling around,’ isn’t the manager’s responsibility? Why are you expected to do the managing?,” one wrote.

“Exactly. Staffing is a manager’s job. I’m letting you know I can’t work today,” another added. “Calling around to find coverage for my shift is work.”

Some people made jokes about how the boss’s reaction to her dog’s death encouraged Hope to quit, one of which wrote: “Wow, the g-force on that u-turn.”

Other people also claimed that the worker shouldn’t have told her boss what the family emergency was and that she wasn’t required to do so.

“Never explain what your family emergency is. It is none of their business. And besides, no reason you give is good enough for them,” one reader said.

“Family emergency says it all,” another added. “If they ask, clarify that it’s a family emergency.”

The Independent has contacted Hope for comment.

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