Aussie woman Madeline Whittaker has revealed the text message that caused her to quit her job on the spot.
Ms Whittaker, 27, was working in administration for a construction company in Adelaide when she received a text from her boss that pushed her over the edge.
The young worker has endometriosis and had told her boss that she needed a day off to manage her pain. His response left her shaken.
More than a million women in Australia have been diagnosed with endometriosis, a currently incurable disease that often leaves women in chronic pain.
One in six women who are diagnosed with the disease will lose their employment due to managing the relentless disease.
Medicare is failing women and it’s About Bloody Time things changed. Around one million suffer from endometriosis. There is no cure. Help is hard to come by and in rural or regional areas, it’s virtually impossible. We are campaigning for longer, Medicare-funded consultations for endometriosis diagnosis and treatment.
Ms Whittaker hadn’t hesitated to tell her work about her health issues because she’d previously come from a job that had been relatively understanding of her needs.
The young professional let her new employer know that, occasionally, she’d need time off to deal with her chronic illness.
She stressed to her new boss that she aimed to be reliable, but sometimes needed time off with short notice.
After three weeks in her role, she sent a text to her boss on a Sunday night to let him know she’d be unable to come to work on Monday.
“Hey! I’m not fit to come into work tomorrow due to my endo/period. I will send a doctors certificate tomorrow and be back in on Tuesday. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience,” she wrote.
In response, her boss told her that her message wasn’t acceptable.
“Sorry Madeline, it’s 20 past 8 at night. It is not acceptable. Please consider your options.” He typed back.
Ms Whittaker responded by quitting her job on the spot.
Ms Whittaker said that she knew there was no point trying to make her boss understand because ultimately, if he didn’t understand her endometriosis from the beginning, she’d never feel comfortable taking the time she needed to manage her condition.
She was particularly stunned by the callous response because she’d told him in the past what she “deals with” in detail and how she’s often in chronic pain.
“I felt small, I felt betrayed and like my rights had been taken away,” she said.
The whole experience left her feeling like having endometriosis wasn’t enough to be taken seriously.
Quitting felt good in the moment, but Ms Whittaker said it was “shit timing”, especially considering the cost of living crisis, but she knew her worth and was in a lucky position where she could walk away.
She then found another job with a different company working in accounts, but found her previous experience was still haunting her.
“I was in pain every single day but I pushed through the majority of the days,” she said.
Despite how much she was trying at work, she was beginning to get quite sick with endometriosis … and she couldn’t ignore it.
When Ms Whittaker let her new boss know she’d need some time off for surgery, she was met with a kind response.
But days later, she was pulled into a meeting, “dismissed”, and told she hadn’t passed her probation.
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She believes it was “100 per cent” because she’d asked for time off to have surgery, and she was left reeling from the experience.
Ms Whittaker now has secured a new job and things are going well, but her disease means she doesn’t just need to find a good job, she needs to find one where her disease isn’t treated like a problem.
About Bloody Time is an editorial campaign by news.com.au that been developed in collaboration with scientists recommended by the Australian Science Media Centre, and with the support of a grant from the Walkley Foundation’s META Public Interest Journalism fund.
https://news.google.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?oc=5
2024-03-03 19:01:22Z
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