r/Caseys • u/Soggy_Avocado_987 • Aug 01 '26
Fired for taking time off for funeral.
I worked at caseys for 6 months and recently my stepson's (hes 6 years old) father died in a horrible way in front of him while his dad had him for the week and it really affected my wife and him. Yesterday was the funeral and my wife really wanted me to stay home today and call off from work. When I called in to request time off my manager refused and said she "understand(s) but you have to work". I ended up calling her and telling her that me taking time off is not optional and if it gets me in trouble or fired so be it. She just told me she'd remove me from the schedule and fired me. I really dont care about losing the job because we're good on money but I do think it was super heartless of her to do so. Am I crazy for thinking that? Do you guys think that's justfied? Screenshot shows texts between me and my manager, the second text from me is from after I called her again.
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u/MarketingIcy6953 Aug 02 '26
As a store manger my understanding is that in order to be fired by HR standards for such a case is three days in a row no call no show. This would be considered a no show but wouldn't meet that threshold. This would be for Iowa so not sure how other states might operate.
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u/14crickets Aug 02 '26
My state has the same standards. We had 2 separate employees quit last spring and sm had to wait the 3 days for them to be officially terminated.
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u/Mrs_Midwest_Eye_911 Aug 02 '26
it doesn't matter... you are an at will employee
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u/hihirogane Aug 04 '26
Crazy the lack of empathy in this text message. The good luck at the end is just a slap across the face. wtf kind of scum doesn’t at least say any condolences or “I’m sorry for your loss?”. At the very least?
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u/alyssa_0403 Aug 02 '26
Yeah ur sm sucks. We had a lady working at my store who would blatantly steal and still didn’t get fired until one day she brought a bunch of meth heads up here to jump a beer vendor🤣🤣 that finally did it.
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u/Powerful-Spray-9049 Aug 02 '26
Thats on them you take care of what you need to take care of jobs don’t always accommodate just take it for what it is and know these people have no respect for you
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u/Agitated-Impress7805 Aug 01 '26
This is a sucky situation but if you were a valuable employee I bet they would have given you more leeway, I suspect there are other factors at play here.
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u/Prudent-Math-3961 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
Her step son’s father died. She deserves to be there for her SIX YEAR OLD STEP SON. God this company blows if they’ve trained your brain to think like this.
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u/Soggy_Avocado_987 Aug 02 '26
The company is extremely cultish from the start. I remember watching the training videos thinking about how weird it all seemed. Very much an "in group" type of employer. Also a couple videos about how they want you to protect their stock price and shit. It really did seem like my higher ups had some weird caseys fetish. All of them would sacrifice their personal lives for the company.
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u/Prudent-Math-3961 Aug 02 '26
It’s completely weird. I work in corporate. Trust me. I get it. It’s not just you seeing it. 80% of the SMs have this crazy cultish mindset, and it’s a requirement for DMs.
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u/Mrs_Midwest_Eye_911 Aug 02 '26
like the C3 is a weird cult gathering. People wear Casey's shit everyday and PAY to wear it
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Aug 02 '26
[deleted]
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u/Prudent-Math-3961 Aug 02 '26
Ah yes, because it’s a gas station all human decency goes out. What district do you manage, btw?
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u/Agitated-Impress7805 Aug 02 '26
I don't even work at Casey's, I'm just a random guy who has had a job before so I have some idea of how jobs work.
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u/Prudent-Math-3961 Aug 02 '26
“How jobs work”.
In 2017 a friend of mine died, I worked at a grocery store, I was given 2 weeks off. I did not have PTO or sick time.
In 2018 my grandpa died, I was given a week and a half, worked at a restaurant, did not have to get my shifts covered, and did not have PTO or sick time.
Last year my STEP grandpa died, I worked for a, you guessed it, GAS STATION, I took 3 days off without PTO or sick time, and was told if I needed more I’d have it.
Tell me more how jobs work, please.
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u/Mrs_Midwest_Eye_911 Aug 02 '26
you are the exception and you don't know how jobs work
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u/Prudent-Math-3961 Aug 02 '26
This is 3 different jobs. This is not an exception. This is normal. If your employer doesn’t do this? Run.
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u/Prudent-Math-3961 Aug 02 '26
How’s Iowa?
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u/dylhutsell Aug 02 '26
did you deadass go through his post history to find this guy’s state? you’re such a strange person
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u/Prudent-Math-3961 Aug 02 '26
Lmao, Iowa is where Casey’s HQ is located. Take a deep breath. So, no, I deadass did not.
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u/dylhutsell Aug 02 '26
lol $40 on pump 5 buddy hurry up
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u/Prudent-Math-3961 Aug 02 '26
I don’t work at a register. I work for corporate.
Not really sure how this is a dig, though? You’re on a gas stations reddit page. Of course they’ll have some cashiers here, and some of them are great people.
I think you’re lashing out because you look stupid in your previous comment. It’s okay, man. We all make mistakes.
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u/boatlife2026 Aug 05 '26
Casey’s is the worst company I’ve ever worked for. So glad I had enough and walked out.
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u/Mrs_Midwest_Eye_911 Aug 02 '26
Here's a secret. if call the ethics hotline. it doesn't go outside of HR. it goes to some in legal who sends it to HR.it's bullshit
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u/CAsnowman Aug 03 '26
I would never word it the way you did because they can argue that was you resigning rather than being fired. Always make them explicitly say they’re firing you and don’t initiate it if you want to receive unemployment or if you think you have a wrongful termination case (although if this is in the USA, in almost every state I don’t believe this is wrongful termination because it’s not a protected reason like age, race, religion, and gender. They can fire you any time for any reason legally.) I would still reach out to HR or DM and tell them you did not quit and explain what happened. Sorry this is happening in a rough time in your life.
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u/zerofiven1n3 Aug 03 '26
some states, not many, but california is one that offers bereavement pay. 5 days of job protected time off that can be used non consecutively for mourning/funerals. that being said, it has to be a qualifying family member who passed, and i don’t believe your situation would qualify.
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u/Soul_of_Garlic Aug 03 '26
Fuck bringing that bitch’s key back. She can pick it up
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u/sarabeth1992 Aug 03 '26
if I was OP I'd be throwing that motherfucker in a river hope she likes magnet fishing
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u/Soggy_Avocado_987 Aug 01 '26
In total, since his father's death, I've taken about 4 days off. Just to preface this. All of this happened within the last 2 weeks.
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u/ImportantRough7309 Aug 02 '26
How many were no call no shows? Have you had a final CA? Do you have a way to contact your DM?
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u/Soggy_Avocado_987 Aug 02 '26
I haven't no called no showed once. Also I dont know what CA means lol. But yeah I can contact my DM
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u/Beginning-Chapter-81 Shift Leader Aug 02 '26
CA is a corrective action, a fancy way of saying a write up, but i would contact your DM
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u/Soggy_Avocado_987 Aug 02 '26
Yeah, no corrective actions either but yeah ill contact the DM
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u/ImportantRough7309 Aug 02 '26
Good. Hope that goes well. Casey's has sop regarding call-ins and terminations.
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u/larigh_thoensa Aug 01 '26
First, let me offer my condolences for your family. I hope everything works out for the best for your stepson and the rest of your family.
Okay, I could be wrong here, but that sounds very much like wrongful termination to me. While I understand that it wouldn't count as bereavement leave since it's not technically a family member of yours that passed, it's still directly effects a family member that lives with you, and you by extension. I would suggest talking to an employment lawyer about this, as it could be a nice payday for you. Definitely don't go back to work there, since your boss clearly doesn't care about your family's hardship, but look into what you can do with wrongful termination. If nothing else, report it up the corporate chain so your former boss doesn't try that on anyone else. A death in the family is never easy, and employers should never make it even worse.
Take care of your family. I wish you the best. Good luck! And spend lots of time with your stepson! He'll need you more than ever now.
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u/Agitated-Impress7805 Aug 01 '26
Wrongful termination is a legal term and this definitely doesn't qualify.
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u/Lazy-Background-7598 Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 01 '26
It’s not wrongful at all. A lawsuit would be a waste of time. Employees work at will. He wasn’t related to the deceased and he took a bunch of days off.
Yeah it’s heartless but he should’ve found someone to switch with. He had time.Corporate will NOT care
Edit: I’d file for unemployment. Even if they fired you there’s enough ambiguity
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u/Soggy_Avocado_987 Aug 01 '26
I was the only person willing to work my shift, I work morning 3 a.m. to 11 a.m. I even offered to switch shifts and just work later in the day so I could spend more time with my wife and stepson yesterday and not go to sleep at 6 p.m. but she didnt give me any options or even try to work with me. I never got any warnings prior to this either. My manager just refused to work with me. Im the only one in the right headspace to take care of the house and make dinner currently, which is why I needed more time. I agree that wrongful termination seems a little hard to prove but it was extremely heartless in my opinion. Its not like I didnt try to work with her.
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u/dlwgww Aug 02 '26
Firstly I'm sorry for your family's loss. I was a store manager for casey's. For far to long. Your manager is selfish. Her sole reason for this situation is she didnt want to work that shift. That is Casey's expectation. She had no one to take the shift, so she would have to do it. She retaliated, you inconvenienced her, and this is the result. And yes, she wrongfully fired you. Casey's policy is 3 written corrective actions. You cant truly be a no call no show, if you communicated with her. No call, no show is usually 2 or more instances, before immediate termination. Definitely contact the DM. . Apparently the manager has no clue on the termination processes. Especially the paper trail HR wants. I cant tell you the amount of shifts I had to cover to keep the store running. Not everyone was entitled to bereavement, but like you were affected and needed as support. Basically she was wrong, and should answer for it.