This father of four was employed in a private security group on three months probation. When his wife went into labor, he missed his weekend shift to attend to his son’s birth. Then he got fired!
Lamar Austin, a military veteran and father of four, was recently employed with Salerno Protective Services. As part of his 90-day-trial, his employer expected him to be on-call at all times.
But last year, on Dec. 31, the fact that Austin’s wife was going into labor with their son meant he was obviously unable to go to his work shift. Despite this, his employer sent him a text message informing him that his employment was terminated.
It’s not clear if Austin attempted to notify his superiors about his absence.
Taking Loss in Stride
“Sometimes you lose something and you get something even better,” he told the Huffington Post.
The baby boy was born in Concord, New Hampshire, as 2017 began.
The local Hampshire newspaper got to know about the incident. Sara Persechino, an advocate specializing in paid family leave started a Go Fund Me cause for the family that has already raised over $6,000.
“I don’t think they should have to be worrying about financial issues right now; it should be a joyful time for them, and no one should ever have to choose between their family and their job,” she told the Concord Monitor.
Because of the widespread publicity he received three job offers, including apprentice work from a local business manager, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the labor union AFL-CIO.
Go fund me has already collected an amount of more than $10,000 to help Austin’s family.
Austin’s former employer has not yet made a press release on this issue.
This story was originally published by huffingtonpost.in.
