No matter how good a company is said to treat its employees, it actually comes down to the individual manager when you’re talking about personal experience.

OP was a teenager working as the head cashier at Home Depot. He liked his job and his coworkers, and since he started in winter, his allergies hadn’t yet been an issue.

In high school, I was working at the local home depot as a head cashier. I kept track of all the active registers and made sure things ran smoothly. I held this position for quite some time (1-2 years) and enjoyed it pretty well. Customers were nice, and my coworkers were mostly craftsmen and gardeners, all with interesting stories to share.

before we go further, let me explain something. I am allergic to nearly every form of pollen. I mean EVERY form. I take allergy medication, but even then if I am in close proximity to flowers for too long (>30 minutes) I will begin to break out in hives and throwup most of the time.

Then one day in spring, several of the garden center employees called off. OP found others to cover the shifts, but for some reason, his boss demanded he cover the garden center himself.

so after about three months working in the winter, the spring season was upon us (the worst season for my allergies).

One day, about three of our garden section cashiers called off sick. They are pretty reliable people so I had no problem finding people to cover for them. As I come to my manager to inform them of the position changes, my manager looks at me and says “You can handle the garden section on your own, can’t you?”.

I inform my manager that I could cover it for at most 15 minutes before my allergies flare up and ill have to leave.

OP warned him about his allergies but since there was no “paperwork” on file his boss didn’t care.

he states “we don’t have any documents on file that state you are not fit to work in the garden section, so unless you come to me with a doctor’s note stating your allergies, I couldn’t give less of a crapp.”

I don’t know who pooed in his cheerios that morning, but I complied, saying “I want to be sure of what you are asking, you want me to work in a section which is hazardous to my health instead of placing equally capable employees in that section?”

“Did I stutter?” he said

“Ok, sure,” I said

As it happened, OP had a massive flare-up and attack while serving a customer that ended up being a higher-up in the company.

He told OP to go home.

I make my way down to the garden section, and immediately my eyes are stinging. I decide that I am going to stick it out for my boss’s sake, no matter how bad my service becomes.

The first 10 minutes are pretty uneventful, but then a customer asks me about the rash on my arms

“The Home Depot does not care about allergies,” I say “as I do not have official paperwork”

This customer looks extremely concerned, asking for my manager’s name.

At this point, I was feeling nausea hit me, I throw up in the trash can at the register, turn back to smile (as well as I could) and say ” I work under Bob ______”.

The customer reassures me that I will be ok, and tells me I should head home. Turns out, this guy, Nick ____, was a higher-up at the home depot’s regional management and was my boss’s boss. So, naturally, I comply with the chain of command and head to the locker room to pack up.

The boss, though, told him to get back out there.

As I am packing, Bob _____ comes in, fuming and cursing, telling me I have no right to leave yet and that my shift is not over for another 5 hours.

I simply say “Nick _____ told me to go home”

Bob’s face gets redder as he threatens to fire me, saying I was lying and tells me to go back out.

Not wanting to get fired (and smelling revenge), OP did as he was told, only to be firmly sent away by the higher-up, who now wore the orange apron.

I comply, knowing that I will see Nick on my way out.

I pass Nick, still in the orange apron, and he asks me where I am going.

I say that Bob told me to go back to work.

Nick’s expression goes from concerned to furious, as he takes my apron from me and tells me I’ll be paid for the full shift and to go home.

By the time OP returned he’d been given a week of vacation, and his boss no longer worked there.

I come into work the next day to see that Bob’s nameplate has been removed from the office.

I ask our HR rep what happened, and apparently, after I had left, Nick stormed Bob’s office and proceeded to perform an audit on all of his past employee complaints.

This guy had been throwing out complaints for the past 5 years. Needless to say, there was an opening for the store management position, and I was given a week’s vacation for my troubles.

My satisfaction was huge.

Sometimes management really is on your side, it turns out!

The top comment says people health should always be a concern.

This person says his boss must not have been that bright.

They say they have the boss man pegged.

Good bosses know how to walk the line.

Everyone knows this is the right way to have handled it.

I don’t understand why bosses are just so unreasonable.

A little common sense goes a long way.