Our beloved, irreplaceable daughter Annie should’ve been celebrating her 30th birthday this week. Instead, we’re left marking that milestone without her -- remembering all that she was and grieving… | Greg Surman | 264 comments
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Our beloved, irreplaceable daughter Annie should’ve been celebrating her 30th birthday this week. Instead, we’re left marking that milestone without her -- remembering all that she was and grieving all that should have been. Annie died by suicide last year, after being fired by MongoDB while she was on disability leave. Yesterday, we filed a legal complaint against MongoDB, seeking accountability for Annie’s wrongful termination and wrongful death. The complaint alleges as follows: Annie was on leave receiving intensive mental health treatment when MongoDB demanded her immediate return to work. She asked for an extension to complete her treatment, or at the least a short period to consult with her medical providers about whether and how she might be able to return to work before the treatment was completed. Instead, MongoDB terminated her health insurance and then fired her in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the New York State and City Human Rights Laws. Shortly afterward, Annie took her own life. An extension of Annie’s leave would have cost MongoDB nothing. We made it clear that they did not need to pay her or hold her job open for her. We just asked them not to fire her while she was in such a vulnerable state, as we feared that would result in tragedy. We just wanted a little more time to get her stabilized. We understand MongoDB may have told some of Annie’s colleagues that she quit. That is not true. MongoDB fired her. We’re pursuing this case to set the record straight and to help ensure that powerful companies like MongoDB do not continue to violate the rights of their employees. | 264 comments on LinkedIn
    • VitoRobles@lemmy.todayEnglish
      1·
      4 days ago

      Curious - because I’m a dumb American. What would make this preventable?

      She was a person going through a mental crisis. And I can’t say at my American job, my work would never stop me from offing myself, beyond recommending a wellness app.

      • reev@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        4·
        4 days ago

        She asked for an extension to complete her treatment, or at the least a short period to consult with her medical providers about whether and how she might be able to return to work before the treatment was completed. Instead, MongoDB terminated her health insurance and then fired her in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the New York State and City Human Rights Laws. Shortly afterward, Annie took her own life.

        Maybe, as a VERY FIRST STEP, don’t act in violation of human rights laws. It seems, based on what was linked in this post, that she was trying to figure out how to best move forward (not just for herself but also in reapects to her returning to work) when they cut her off.

      • Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.clubEnglish
        1·
        4 days ago

        1. Illegal to fire someone on leave, no exceptions.

        2. Healthcare related leaves (employee paychecks for the time) are partially (eg 80% or everything over 3 days or whatever the country codifies) covered by the government.

        3. Shaming the employer who now has a hard time to find workforce.

        I thought this was the norm outside of USA.
        And something that employers still exploit via ‘consensual termination’, which usually involves some kind of extra compensation, but it’s not regulated per se, just wherever a person in power is able to get the other one to agree to. Still better than no protections or warnings I guess.

        Oh, reev already pointed out that that practice is against the law as it is now. But healthcare shouldn’t be tied to your employer/employment status.