Teenager Fired From Her Job After Getting Sick While Working — Manager Told Her To 'Just Stick It Out'
The teenager weighed her options and decided that her best course of action was to close the pool early.
SHOTPRIME via Canva / Ryan McVay via Canva A 16-year-old recently submitted a post on the “r/jobs” forum on Reddit, where she talked about how she was fired from her job as a lifeguard because she was sick. This particular subreddit is a place for people to talk about their job experiences in any and every regard, and she was likely just looking for a place to vent her frustrations regarding the reason she was fired.
During her shift, she started feeling sick. Not feeling like she was able to continue her shift all the way to the end, she requested to her manager that she close early. Her manager told her not to, but she did it anyway, risking getting fired.
The teenager was fired from lifeguard duty for closing the pool when she felt sick.
Under normal circumstances, closing down early because you don’t feel good might be the subject of debate, but when your job relies on your ability to perform when potentially saving someone’s life, the question of morals comes into play.
Photo: Reddit
The teenager claims that she had been working for the same company for two years. “I’ve never particularly liked the management at this job but I kept working because of the pay,” she explained in her post. “Anyways today I was working a 4-9 shift at a neighborhood pool and was feeling quite fatigued and dizzy.”
She said that the heat was getting to her, and although she’s normally capable of withstanding high temperatures and sunny days, she was particularly exhausted and “ready to fall over” that day.
The teen also admitted that she had never previously missed a shift or had to leave early, so although she felt bad, she had a stellar attendance record. All things considered, she decided she would call her manager and request to close the pool early.
Her manager told her to 'just stick it out' until the end of her shift.
“My manager then proceeded to insist that I stayed and said she had nobody to replace me with,” she explained. “We went back and forth for about ten minutes with her saying things like ‘I need you to just stick it out.’”
Considering it seems like they’re understaffed as it is, one would hope that this teen would be treated better if she couldn’t physically stand being at work. Not only that, but considering the nature of her job as a lifeguard, it’s entirely unsafe for her to continue manning her post.
“The conversation finally ended with me basically telling her that I couldn’t responsibly be on stand when I was feeling like this and that it was unethical of her to ask me to do so and that if this meant I would be fired then fine,” she said, standing up for herself.
After weighing the options, she decided that she would close up the pool and left around 8:15. Shortly after, she received a text from her manager stating that she needed to bring her a doctor’s note or else she would be terminated.
“Getting a doctor's note isn’t a problem but the question I have is if it’s even worth staying at the company after this interaction,” the teen asked.
She only stayed at the job for the pay, and with school starting up, she didn’t feel the need to keep working there any longer — and so she didn’t. She was fired from her job, but she stood her ground against some dodgy morals.
Photo: Reddit
Had something happened in the pool while she wasn’t feeling well, it could have meant someone’s life was on the line.
Someone in the comments wrote, “The first thing and most important that management should understand is that lifeguards are supposed to be in their best shape to be able to save a person's life. Literally in the lifeguard certification course.”
If she wasn’t in the best shape, they should’ve been begging for her to close the pool early, not the other way around.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor for YourTango who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics.