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In the days leading up to the birth of Lamar Austin’s son, he was put in a difficult situation by his new employer, Salerno Protective Services. Just a month ago, the 30-year-old man had been hired as a part-time security guard who had to be on call 24/7. He would first be put on a 90-day trial period for the company to determine whether they wanted to keep him for full time.
For that first month, Lamar went to every single one of his shifts and covered other employee’s shifts when they couldn’t make it or cancelled.
The one day Lamar missed was December 28, because he had to bring his wife to a doctor’s appointment. Their son would be arriving any day.
Just as Lamar was preparing to go into work later that week, his wife went into labor. Lamar called his boss. He explained, “I didn’t want to make it seem like I’m trying to miss work or something. The second day I told my boss, ‘My wife is still in labor.’”
His boss replied, “You’re forcing my hand, if you aren’t in work by 8 tomorrow we are going to terminate you.”
Lamar could either accompany his wife, Lindsay Austin, 26, to the hospital for the birth of his son.
Or he could lose his job.
Ultimately, Lamar chose to celebrate the birth of his son with his wife.
That night, Lamar received a call from his employer. He was being let go from his new position, no questions or exceptions.
Unfortunately, there is little Lamar can do to get the position back. Workers get little protection from the law if their employers want to fire them because the state follows an “at-will employment” policy. Any employer or employee can end an employment at any time and for any reason.
A member of Salerno Protective Services is refusing to comment on Lamar’s case until the business has been settled privately first.
We hope that Lamar will be able to find a new position soon to support his growing family at home.
