Healthcare worker catches virus on the job, refuses to work 2 extra weeks after being fired under strict attendance policy: 'Finally I just told her if I wasn’t fired then I quit!'

Isabella Penn

Jan 20, 2026 10:00 AM EST

The job was never what it promised to be.

Hired to care for residents in an assisted living facility (which was described as independent apartments for older adults who needed only minimal help), the employee quickly learned that reality looked very different. Many residents were not self-sufficient, staffing levels were thin, and despite being scheduled alongside another caregiver, she frequently worked shifts alone.

Right away, the job was much more physically demanding than she expected. She tried to adapt, but things were made harder by a strict attendance rule: if you missed three shifts in three months, you were automatically fired. There were no exceptions.

Two weeks after she started, a well-known virus spread through the facility. All the residents got sick. Staff tried to follow safety rules, but it was impossible to avoid getting exposed. She caught the virus and missed two shifts while getting medical care on her own. She came back as soon as she could, still clearly sick, and kept helping residents by herself. Management thanked her for returning early because they were so short-staffed.

For weeks afterward, she pushed through lingering symptoms while working solo shifts. Then, about a month later, her child contracted the same virus.

With no alternative care, she stayed home and missed an overnight shift.

The following day, she was informed she had reached three absences and was being let go.

She went from feeling frustrated to shocked. Management knew her first two absences were because she got sick at work. Then, a new manager called to ask why she had not come in. When she explained she had already been fired, the manager told her to keep working her scheduled shifts anyway, and that she would still be let go after that.
She said no.
Text messages followed, urging her to come in. Eventually, she responded that if she wasn’t fired, then she was quitting.
The experience left her questioning not only the decision, but the system itself. Was it reasonable to expect someone to continue working after being told their job was already gone? Should illness acquired while caring for vulnerable residents count the same as an unexcused absence? Others told her she should have finished the schedule anyway, that walking away looked unprofessional.
From her perspective, the answer was simple. She had worked sick, alone, and beyond the job’s original scope — and when it mattered, the policy mattered more than the person.
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"AITA for refusing to work my 2-week schedule AFTER being fired?"

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Healthcare worker catches virus on the job, refuses to work 2 extra weeks after being fired under strict attendance policy: 'Finally I just told her if I wasn’t fired then I quit!'

"AITA for refusing to work my 2-week schedule AFTER being fired?"

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