Life Threatening Illness Is Distracting; So, You’re Dismissed!

Being diagnosed with cancer can be a scary and stressful time in one’s life, but imagine being fired after you find out that you’ve been diagnosed with it!

That is the case for one woman in Pennsylvania, who was laid off after her boss discovered she had cancer that affected her pancreas, liver, and ovaries. The woman had worked in an oral surgeon’s office for over 12 years, and the doctor claimed that her cancer would be distracting to her job.

According to the Huffington Post—in a note he wrote to the woman—he says, “The symptoms of the disease, the pain medications you will need and the side effects of the chemotherapy will be significant and distracting. You will not be able to function in my office at the level required while battling for your life. Because of this, I am laying you off without pay as of August 11, 2014.”

A lawyer for the doctor claims the layoff was a humanitarian effort on the doctor’s part so that the woman could collect unemployment benefits. “He’s trying to help this woman and he’s made out to be a villain,” the lawyer said, claiming that his client wrote the letter “with the understanding that when she is feeling better, she can come back to work.”

However, according to the woman’s fiancé, the doctor has not made an effort to contact the woman since she has been laid off. The fiancé also says that the doctor has not even called her, once, since she’s been sick. The woman is covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act from job discrimination, so long as she is able to perform the job’s essential functions, which she was never given a chance to prove.

Family and friends of the woman are shocked at how quickly the letter went viral and how much of an outrage the general public feels over the dismissal. A friend of the woman says “She doesn’t care about the doctor. She’s in a fight for her life, and she doesn’t want this blown out of proportion.” Friends and family would rather have the public support the woman than keep focusing on how unfairly the doctor treated her.