A lawsuit was filed against Reddit alleging that the company fired an employee with anxiety for taking medical leave. The employee, Jamie Lee, had worked at Reddit as an accountant for over 4 years with positive reviews. In July 2022, Lee requested 3 days off for her health but was denied. She was later placed on medical leave after fainting, but was fired upon returning and accused of poor performance. However, the lawsuit claims others made similar mistakes. It also alleges Reddit’s new leadership under the CFO has created a “toxic, political, and not inclusive” culture, which two other employees also left over. This highlights challenges employees faced with the changing culture at Reddit.
The only thing a supervisor should be saying to “I need to take time off to address personal health concerns,” is “Take as much time as you need, your health is most important.”
The only thing a supervisor should be saying to “I fainted, and my doctor has put me on medical leave,” is “Take as much time as you need, your health is most important.”
My first ever direct report asked me if he could leave a couple hours early because his kid went to the hospital.
I told him I expected that if this happened again he just call me on the way to the hospital.
Or uh not call you… imagine letting him focus on driving and getting to his kid rather than talking on the phone with you. If you want to be a good manager then you should make it clear that communicating retrospectively is perfectly fine.
The problem is that for most companies, employee health is very far down the list in importance.
I worked at a company where my colleagues included two young brothers. One of them had a serious illness and was in hospital. One day the other brother, at work, got notification that his brother in hospital might not have much time left. He asked management if he could take the afternoon off to go and see his brother. They said no, they needed him to work late. This guy was an overly conscientious employee and he didn’t go to the hospital that day. His brother died during the night and he didn’t get to say goodbye to him. Those are the priorities of many companies.
Don’t ask for your employer to meet your time off needs. Tell them that your time off needs are going to be met.
I am not at all saying that it was the employee’s fault in your example. It wasn’t. The sad thing is that people have been conditioned that they need to ask for time off when emergencies arise.