A good mother will always put her children first no matter what the personal sacrifice or hardship.
When a young mother in Pennsylvania was struggling to support her kids, she got a second job without a second thought. And when she lost everything in a devastating flood, she did what she had to do to put her family first. Sadly, however, her boss didn’t see it the same way.
A Dedicated Mother
As a mother, one Pennsylvania woman from Millvale, a borough along the Allegheny River opposite of Pittsburgh, would do anything for her kids. So when she struggled to support her two children while working at a local truck rental business, she was forced to get a second job.
The Second Job
The young mother considered a number of different jobs to supplement her income and ultimately decided to apply for a server’s position at a local bar and restaurant. According to the woman, the choice came down to one important factor.
A Family Business
The bar and restaurant, which is well known in the community, is a family business owned by two cousins. As a mother with young kids, it appealed to her as she wanted to work at a place that actually values their employees and could be flexible with her schedule.
A Reliable Employee
Despite juggling the responsibilities and busy schedules of having two jobs and raising two young kids, the mother only called in sick one time and came in late for a shift once during the first five months while working at the restaurant.
The Storm
However, Nichole Parks had no choice but to miss a shift at Kretzler’s Tavern after waking up to a flooded home on the morning of July 5, 2018. In the early hours of the morning, a severe storm hit the area and caused Girty’s Run, a tributary of the Allegheny River, to run over its banks.
Severe Flooding
Water flooded into the streets and caused severe flooding to local homes and businesses. Nichole Parks’s home, which she rented from a landlord, was, unfortunately, one of the homes to be ravaged by the flood waters.
Property Damage
Almost all of Nichole’s belongings were destroyed in the flood, and the basement was left flooded with a few feet of water. Normally, her landlord would have dealt with the damage, but to make matters worse for Nichole, he was on vacation.
Out of Options
Nichole had no choice but to deal with clearing the floodwater before it caused more serious damage to the property, and had to call into work and tell them she wouldn’t be able to make it in for her shift. Since they’re a family-run business, she thought they would understand…
Time Off
“I called off Friday. I had no choice but to call off Friday. Saturday, I had no choice but to call off. My landlord didn’t get here until Sunday because he was on vacation,” Nichole said. However, when she told her boss Jason, one of the co-owners of Kretzler’s Tavern, he wasn’t as understanding as Nichole hoped.
A Cold Response
Nichole texted Jason and explained her situation, but he told her that she would be fired if she failed to show up for her shift. “You need to come to work or you don’t have a job. I’m 100 percent for real,” Jason wrote in response to Nichole’s message.
Cleaning the Mess
“I am sorry but I cannot. My kids lost everything and I am trying to save everything so that my kids have clothes. I still have water in my basement and today is the last day that I’m going to have help and I have them coming here to snake my drains because my landlord hasn’t even been here,” Nichole texted her boss.
Pleading for Compassion
“I have no clothes or shoes for work. I lost EVERYTHING and today is the only day I have help,” Nichole pleaded in her text conversation with her boss. “If you need me tomorrow I can be there but I’m trying my best to save what I can.”
A Heartless Ultimatum
“I’m sorry to here (sic) that but I have a business to run, so you have a choice to make,” Jason said in response. “So you’re going to make me make a choice by firing me and taking food out of my kid’s mouth when I just literally lost everything,” said Nichole, who was shocked by the ultimatum.
The Only Choice
And when Nichole put her children before her employer, who wanted her to come in and clean up the flood damage the bar suffered during the storm, she lost her job just like Jason warned. While Nichole was shocked, her mother, Lisa Russell, was outraged.
A Mother’s Outrage
“She got fired for trying to take care of her disaster,” said Lisa, who expressed her frustration on Facebook. “Can you believe my daughter got fired from a family owned business the day after the flood!!!!!! (KRETZLERS). Who does this?”
Bad for Business
After Lisa posted screenshots of the conversation her daughter had with Jason before being fired, the community slammed the business and the family that owns it for being so cruel to a mother who lost everything during the flood.
The Apology
Shortly after, Kretzler’s Tavern wrote an apology on their Facebook page. “Many of you have seen a post shared on Facebook in the past couple of days about an employee that was terminated. The way it was handled by one of our co-owners was not appropriate,” they wrote.
Regaining the Community’s Support
“We sincerely apologize for the poor communication and lack of consideration. New processes are currently being implemented to ensure that this does not happen again,” Kretzler’s Tavern said. “We understand that many people are upset by how things happened and we hope that going forward we can regain the community’s support. We will have a donation box setup behind the bar and we will be matching the sum of all donations up to $500 until July 15th to the Millvale flood cleanup GoFundMe.”
Making the Situation Right
“I totally disagreed with how [Jason] handled the situation,” said Brandon Kretzler, the other co-owner of the business. “He was selfish. He was unprofessional.” In addition, Jason has been suspended without pay “for a month or so” and Brandon offered to help Nichole recover from the storm. “I told her if there was anything that she needed, to please let me know,” he said.
Burnt Bridges
When the community demanded they give Nichole her job back, Brandon said he was open to the idea. However, they have not made a formal offer and Nichole has no interest in working for the family anymore. “Absolutely not, no way,” she said. “You’re supposed to be a family-owned restaurant. Anybody would pick their family over a job.”
Boss Slammed After Giving Waitress Cruel Ultimatum After Devastating Flood is an article from: LifeDaily