I have worked for my employer for 5 years. I loved my job. I started out as a cashier, then moved to a photo technician, then photo lab supervisor, and now I am a shift supervisor/manager. I have transferred to my third store to fullfill this. I had differences in opinions at my last store which was why I was so relieved that I had the opportunity for an opening at another store. Even better, it is in my town and saves me money. My fiancee/husband stays home with our two kids, 10 months and 3 years old.

Recently, in the last week, I have been comming into problems with my store manager. At first, I felt everything was going great at my new store. But now, I feel like my job is being threatened and even with the possibility of my old store managers helping. Back in March I had to make a visit to the E.R. as well as in April. Both times I had doctors notes and no problems. Once was for my son and the second time was for myself. I haven’t had any call offs since then, and those were excused. Now, on the 17th I was suppose to open the store, but I ended up having to take my son to the E. R. because he wouldn’t eat, drink, sleep, stop crying, fussing, etc. and he had a temperature of 103.3 under his arm. So I called my manager at a little after 3am to let him know I was taking my son in to the hopsital. He said ok and to keep him posted. They said he had a severe ear infection. Mind you, he’s 10 months. They kept an eye on his temperature until it would go down. I called my manager back at 5:30am and let him know I was still there and wouldn’t be able to come to work. I told him I’d bring in the docs note. When I returned to work, he wrote me up for calling off that morning even though I had to take my son into the hospital!! I told him he couldn’t do that and he said it was still considered an absense!

He then began to tell me if I ended up calling off and missing work again within for example, 6 months, he will have to bring me back in the office and have a talk with me and I may lose my job. Basically, my job had been threatened due to missing work for illnesses. I never got wrote up for the first two times. That was on a Thursday on the 19yj. That night, I needed to go to the walk-in for a bad infection going on on the inside of my left upper thigh. The doctor put me off work Friday. I was scared because he just wrote me up. My shift was supposed to be from 3-10 Friday night. So on Friday morning, I took my perscription in and gave my boss my docs notes. He keeps telling me he doesn’t need any of them, which makes me feel really uncomfortable. And uncertain. I told him he makes the call, basically whichever decision would save me. He said he preferred that I worked so he didn’t have to work a double shift, unless I could get someone to work for me then he wouldn’t have to “document it”, in other words he wouldn’t have to write me up. There are only 3 managers including myself, one was on vacation, I was supposed to be excused, and my boss was already working. Therefore, I had no other choices to find saomeone to cover my shift. So I told him I may have to leave to go to the E. R. because the doctor that took me off that night said if it got worse in any way to go straight to the hospital.

During my shift, the infection began spreading and turning purple so I called my store manager 3 times to ask him to come cover my shift only to get his voicemail every time!! In every message, I told him I needed to go to the hospital. Finally, after the third time, he called me back. His response was: “I’m in Clark Lake having dinner. If I left now it would take me an hour to get to you, which would make it about 9pm, the store closes at 10. It wouldn’t make sense for me to come all that way. Besides, you only got a couple more hours any way”. WOW.. I only said I had to go to the ER. So I told him fine, I was going to the ER when I got out of work. Which I did. They gave me IV antibiotics and a different script. They put me off Saturday and Sunday and said if it gets any worse to come back to the ER and they would probably admit me. They said it didn’t help that I ended up having to work against docs orders. Yet again, my boss didn’t want my doc note and when I called to tell him that I was boing put off for 2 days, he huffed and blaintly said “alright, thanks, bye” and hung up. I ended up getting admitted into the ER Sunday night and they only let me leave today (Monday) on the basis I made an agreement to check up with the surgeon within 5-7 days to make sure he doesn’t have to cut it open. I was ordered to not return to work until I see the surgeon and he says it’s ok.

I fear that even if they don’t fire me ASAP, they are going to get rid of me. There are a couple girls in Pharmacy that have had weeks at a time of no call no shows and popped back up and he has allowed them to still work there. Another girl is calling off every week because she’d rather be scheduled for Rx than front store and she’s still there. And there’s a boy that is a front store cashier who is close friends with my male store manager. I think he’s trying to get rid of me to give him my position. I’ve seen e-mails to our district manager from my store manager requesting this guy get a 5% annual raise instead of our set 2% raises. He’s requested to get him moved into full time and he’s also gone out of his way to let them know he has been training him for shift supervisor, having him go to the training courses (which I was thrown in and never properly trained) and that he is his next in line for the position.

I’m worried I may be in trouble and all because of medical reasons and him wanting his buddy in my position so he can get everything he wants. I’m a good worker, I worked all the way up till my due date with both my pregnancies, I’ve worked when I had the flu and fevers of 102. I’ve gone through a lot of stress at 2 of the 3 stores I’ve worked at and never complained. I’ve been put into tears in certain positions and situations at work, and just kept on truckin. I’ve been told I have a suit against my employer for making me work against docs orders and even more so especially because I ended up back in the hospital twice. What are my legal rights and what should I do? I’m the only one employeed in our household. The kids are both at home all the time and I pay for everything. We cannot afford daycare, I work very hard. I do extra things for my boss to take home and get paid a couple extra hours, I worked a double for him on the 4th so he could go stay with his wife at her parents cottage for the weekend. He cons people into working extra hours with giving them money out of his pocket and buying them Applebee’s for lunch for whatever price to get them to work extra. No one gets a technical break because our store doesn’t have enough employees and hours. What do I do? Do I have a case? PLEASE HELP!