Duty to act laws? - Page 3

 Trafalgar,

Perhaps I should have stated that in my state an employer may terminate an employee without cause. No, no employer in their right mind would fire someone and state they were firing because of their gender, age, race, etc. etc., (although it did happen to me and I prevailed). But, in this state, one does not have to give any reason. PERIOD. Of that I am confident and there are many other states like this. 

As I stated above, I would have done the same thing, except I would have tried to notify in a more timely fashion, if at all possible. None the less, I will be surprised if any legal proceedings would sustain that this was an unfair action. Just my opinion, even though I wish companies were more compassionate.

Melanie,

My first thought is your immediate supervisor gave you the OK. End of story. I don't understand why this would be an issue. If your supervisor did not back you, they are not a good supervisor.

In my experience Union's "pick their battles" so to speak. In their view, this may not be a "worthy" battle. You may need to be very assertive with your union rep.

I don't know about PA, but CA Penal Code states:

and whoever, having the charge or custody of any animal, either as owner or otherwise, subjects any
animal to needless suffering, or inflicts unnecessary cruelty upon...

I would get a vet statement describing the effects of the condition; the pain, suffering, and probable death if not promptly treated.

I think any of us would have done the same thing. Sometimes we all have to pick our battles. I understand how emotionally upsetting this is and how pissed off you are. You might want to think about if this is really worth the possible back lash if you bring the union in on this one. If all you got was a "verbal" and, you have no other disciplinary action in your file, you may want to bite the bullet. If this is the only thing going against you, I think it would be easy to explain the situation to any future employer.

Pretty shitty though.

My employer has gotten used to me.....although someday someone is actually going to read my leave slips in the remarks section and wonder how I can be on "maternity leave" once or twice a year...the smart one's figure it out and know I am delivering puppies...the not so smart ones....well, perhaps it is better they don't know anyway!