VP demands employee inform coworker about her termination "by noon", despite coworker being on approved medical leave and set to have surgery that day, VP claims to be unaware of her leave: 'It would look like we're retaliating for her taking leave'

Author image for Emma Saven
Emma Saven
Dec 10, 2025 9:00 AM EST

Perhaps firing someone while they're fresh off their surgery anesthetic isn't the most intelligent, nor considerate idea! You know how they say there's a right time and place…Well, we think that phrase may have been especially created for this day. But then our brains unfogged, and we were reminded that in the corporate world, the phrase is slightly altered to: my time, my place. 

This VP decided on his December lay-offs, and was set on his decisions…He stays, she goes, or something of the sort. The thing was, he failed to be informed that one of his only female employees was on approved medical leave, emphasis on he word approved. Yet, he demanded that one of his employees call her and lay down the unfortunate news of her termination…on her surgery day! However, and unsurprisingly, this employee refuses to kick someone while they're down, bringing matters into the legal team's hands instead! Bosses take notes: if you want your employees to respect you, try to avoid blatantly ignoring their approved leave dates, and then acting like they're the unreliable ones!

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  • It seems pretty obvious that any sudden layoff around the time of her medical leave seems like a retaliatory response…So we're not so sure how much of a risk they are willing to take in order to fulfill this VP's wishes. But why should the brunt of it all have to fall on this sweet employee, forced to be the medical messenger of the month? We don't know about this employee, but we personally wouldn't appreciate the idea of receiving a phone call about our sudden termination while we're two spoons deep into our pudding cup, lying in our hospital gowns… 

  • Doctor talking to his friendly patient
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    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Boss tried to lay off my team member who is on medical leave

    My boss decided he wanted to lay off someone in my team. She's great but we don't have a ton of work now, so it's a challenge to justify everyone's job, and my boss doesn't listen to anyone else's opinions anyways.
    via Icy-Rock793
  • This guy somehow got to be a VP. IMO he picked her because she's the only woman in his broader team, and he has openly made misogynistic comments.
    via Icy-Rock793
  • He thinks she's not "aggressive" enough, but I'm pretty sure the only way to work with all guys (especially these guys) is to be very subtle.
    via Icy-Rock793
  • He mentioned this layoff to me maybe 6 months ago and told me I had no say in the matter.
    via Icy-Rock793
  • He never mentioned it again. His layoff threats typically don't come to fruition, but it turned out he did indeed put her on a list for December layoffs.
    via Icy-Rock793
  • A few months ago, she applied for medical leave for multiple surgeries, which would require her to go on and off medical leave several times.
    via Icy-Rock793
  • We use a third- party for leave requests. Leave was granted and she has been out of office since then.
    via Icy-Rock793
  • On Monday he asked if I had laid her off yet. I hadn't received any information from HR telling me I had to do a layoff.
    via Icy-Rock793
  • I asked him "how can I lay her off if she's on medical leave?" He said he had no idea about medical leave, HR never told him anything.
    via Icy-Rock793
  • MEDICAL LEAVE Employee approved
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    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • He said he'd reach out to HR for clarification. I never heard anything else from him.
    via Icy-Rock793
  • He also tried to say he had seen her in the office recently; sh has been gone for almost two months.
    via Icy-Rock793
  • HR set up a call with me for today. The HR rep told me to notify her by noon.
    via Icy-Rock793
  • I asked how I could lay her off when she's on medical leave. HR: "she's not on medical leave.
    via Icy-Rock793
  • She was, but returned to work." Me: "she's having surgery today. She was approved for multiple leaves." HR: "we got bad info from third party.
    via Icy-Rock793
  • But we need to take her off the layoff list. And I need to talk to legal.
    via Icy-Rock793
  • This would look like we are retaliating for her taking leave." I said my boss was supposed to reach out to her.
    via Icy-Rock793
  • She said he did, she replied, and then she never heard back from him, so she assumed everything could
    via Icy-Rock793
  • My boss hates when anything is in writing. So rather than call him or go talk to him, I texted him: "re: layoff.
    via Icy-Rock793
  • Did HR talk to you? They said they need to consult with legal." All he responded with was "HR will talk to legal." Our corporate metrics require layoffs to be done before January 1, so afaict there's no point in laying her off for a full year at this point.
    via Icy-Rock793
  • Affectionate-Alps527 That's not entirely true, at least in my jurisdiction. If you lay off one person, and it's the person on leave, yes that's a lawsuit. If there is a broader team, department, or business unit layoff that captures people on leave, it's reasonable and the advice from a lawyer would be to accept the reality and negotiate severance.
    via Affectionate-Alps527
  • A boss and an employee having an intense conversation at their office desk
    via wutzkoh

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • OP Icy-Rock793 I would have had to do the notification essentially as she was coming out of surgery. There are lots of ways to avoid liability but that's too sloppy
    via Icy-Rock793
  • AussieHyena Looking at the comment and post history of their other account (which replied to yours) it looks like the entire department is being laid off.
    via AussieHyena
  • OP Icy-Rock793 There are three ICs in the US, and two of them were on the layoff list. They are keeping a guy who sucks at his job, getting rid of another guy who hasn't done anything ounce of work in years, and then she was the other cut. But I definitely couldn't lay her off yesterday while she was in surgery
    via Icy-Rock793
  • Zestyclose_Belt_6148 Curious: what space/industry is this in?
    via Zestyclose_Belt_6148
  • OP Icy-Rock793 Big tech. I don't think other industries are this sloppy but what do I know
    via Icy-Rock793
  • SmallHeath555 You can lay someone off who is on medical leave. their performance is poor or the company is having overall reductions. Had to do it recently with someone. Never good, but it's not always a no go
    via SmallHeath555
  • OP Icy-Rock793 I'm pretty sure I couldn't lay her off on Friday while she was under anesthesia
    via Icy-Rock793
  • jackarroo You gotta get a new job, "my boss hates when anything is in writing" is a bonkers red flag. This man is built to throw you under the bus.
    via jackarroo
  • ThrowRAkakareborn Laying someone off while or immediately after medical leave is a walking lawsuit, no one would touch that can of worms with a stick, it's not worth it. She will not be fired at the moment, legal will rip whoever is trying to fire her a new one
    via ThrowRAkakareborn

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medical-leave unethical approved tech company lay offs
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