Manager sacked over 'heartless' texts she sent mum who couldn't come to work as son was on life support

A service station manager has been sacked for telling a mum if she didn't come to work she would be fired - despite her son being on life support.

Crystal Reynolds Fisher rushed 18-year-old Jason to hospital after he fell ill. He was then moved to another hospital where she faced a 'rollercoaster of emotions.'

“They wouldn’t let me in the room," Crystal told WWMT.

"I didn’t know what was going on, how my son was or nothing. Finally, a doctor came out and said they had to put him on life-support.”

Doctors believe Jason has a type of sepsis, Crystal said.

With her son's life on the line, Crystal vowed to remain by his hospital bedside.

She messaged her boss at PS Food Mart in Albion, owned by Folk Oil, that she wouldn't be able to make her shifts, while her son's life was potentially on the line.

However, the response she received was far from sympathetic.

Crystal has shared the text message exchange on Facebook between herself and her manager, named Dawn.

The post, which has been shared almost 70,000 times, has left people 'shocked' and 'disgusted'.

"Hi Dawn, this is Crystal," the first message reads.

"I'm just letting you know my son is still on life support so until he is out of the bad I will not be able to make it to work, I can let you know as he starts to get better so that way I can return to work with no problems."

However, the response was not what Crystal was expecting.

"That isn't how we do things, so I'll accept that you're quitting," it said.

The messages continued: "If you can't come to work that's you quitting.

"There is no reason you can't work and I will not tolerate drama. End of conversation. If you aren't there to work your shift tomorrow then I take that as you've quit."

Devastated at the thought of losing her job, Crystal fought back and said: "This is not an eye doctors appointment or a dentist appointment, this is my child's life we are talking about. I never quit my job.

"Would you be able to go to work and function if your child was on life support?"

To which the manager's response was: "Yes I would, I still have bills to pay.

"We don't get to come and go as we please at Folk Oil.

"I have a store to run and that's my focus."

Since the messages went viral, the manager has been fired.

The company said in a statement: "Today we were made aware of a situation at one of our locations where an employee was told that they could not get time off to care for a hospitalized child.

"PS Food Mart and Folk Oil Company are in complete agreement that this is not acceptable. "We are investigating the situation and will make sure that it is resolved quickly and thoroughly.

"We have already been in contact with our employee and have communicated our support and assurance that she will be allowed any time off needed. We are sympathetic to anyone, especially our employees that have a loved one in the hospital."

In another statement, it added: "We investigated and have found that the situation was handled improperly and without the compassion that we value as a company. For that, we are very sorry.

"As a result of this finding, we took quick action and that manager is no longer employed by PS Food Mart.

"We have also reaffirmed to our employee that she will be able to take all the time off that she needs during this difficult period."

Amongst the comments on Crystal's Facebook post, Heather Dye wrote: "You have my deepest sympathy.

"No parent should ever have to know the pain that you are going through. And no parent should have to put up with the behavior of this former manager.

"It physically pains me how remorseless and heartless some of our fellow human beings can be to each other."

Crystal says she enjoys working for PS Food Mart and has no ill feelings toward the company.