When someone is having an allergic reaction, it’s generally pretty time-sensitive.

So, what would you think if your coworker walked up covered in hives and was clearly having an allergic reaction? Would you be surprised if your manager’s first question was if she could stay through the rush or not? Would you not think much of it? Or would that question be enough to make you find a new job?

In the following story, one hostess finds herself facing this decision and is leaning toward the latter. Here’s what happened.

Manager asked a coworker who was having an allergic reaction if she could stay longer

I work in a restaurant (no, we do not have HR), and tonight wasn’t a super busy night.

We had two bussers on our schedule, one of whom is a younger girl, probably a couple of years younger than me. She’s very sweet and great at her job.

I’m standing at the host stand with Manager A and another hostess. This poor girl comes up to us, and her face is red, and her chest, hands, and arms are all red, covered in hives. She’s clearly having some sort of allergic reaction.

She’s telling manager A that she has some allergies and must have touched something that set it off. It’s obvious that this poor girl needs to leave and take some medicine or, at worst, go to the hospital.

Then, the manager asks her to stay through the rush.

My manager asks if she has the kind of reaction where her throat gets itchy and closes (she doesn’t know the English word for anaphylaxis, I guess).

And the busser says yes sometimes.

I’m asking her if she’s okay, if she needs a ride somewhere, or if she needs me to call someone for her.

And she says no and excuses herself to the bathroom to wash up, I guess. She comes back about 10 minutes later and is not any better.

Manager A has the AUDACITY to ask if she can stay until the rush is over.

Another manager came up and allowed her to leave.

There was no huge rush, not for another hour with reservations, so she would have expected this girl to stay for another couple of hours, actively breaking out in hives. We still have another busser on the clock as well!

Luckily, my one manager with some common sense comes up to the stand and tells her to go home and feel better.

She thanks him and leaves.

Manager A does not seem concerned about her health at all, only concerned about whether we could make it through the night with only one busser.

I was thinking of leaving this place eventually, but now I am speed-running applications to other places.

Wow! It’s crazy that a manager would do that!

Let’s see what the people over at Reddit think about this story.

This reader explains allergies.

Some people have no concern for others.

They just might.

Yes, she could’ve.

That manager needs to be fired.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.