help with a situation

I am asking advice with a situation that has arisen with my daughter. I know I am giving more information than necessary, but I want to give the complete picture.

She is 18, married with a young baby and her husband is scheduled for active duty in Afghanistan in a few months. While in high school she made top honors and plans to have a nursing career starting in college in 2008. (She has scholarships) While waiting for that, she recently got a job in a nursing home as CNA. She has been working the night shift and has answered all calls for her to come in (she really needs the money) regardless of whether it’s her day off or even if they asked the same day.

She was called 3 days ago and told she was suspended because of allegations of patient abuse. It took until today for her to discover that one of the patients told her relatives that my daughter would not take her to the bathroom when she asked. (An allegation she totally denies and is dumbfounded by) They had a meeting this morning (without her being present) and she was called back and told she was fired. She was never given the opportunity to go in to deny any the charges or defend herself. There were no witnesses to this occurrence, just the word of the elderly patient and my daughter has no idea what she is talking about.

The seriousness of this all is that now she will have on her record that she was fired from her job for allegations of patient abuse. This all seems incredibly unfair to me. Does she have any recourse to what is happening to her?

Thank you for your consideration.

Just to add to the above information: when my daughter began work at this nursing home, she was given a handbook. It states that anyone accused of an impropriety would be given a chance to speak in their own behalf. It also states that if the employee is fired, there is a procedure to appeal. After she received word she had been fired, my daughter went down and had a meeting with the administrator. He told her she was not allowed to speak or appeal and denied even knowing the rules as laid out in their very own handbook.

To top off all of the above, the RN on duty that night told the social worker the particular patient who made the complaint was always turning off her call button, going to the bathroom herself and then pulling the “help” button. She has also stated repeatedly that, “she knows how to get aides in trouble!”

Still, my daughter remains fired with all the ramifications that entails.

Doesn’t she have any recourse?

You could consult your nearest Department of Labor office to briefly discuss the issue with them first...you may also want to ask the company to put what is happening in writing and explain to them that you may have attorneys review the situation...try speaking to a higher level of management about the issue; they may override the other managers. If none of these efforts resolves the issue, let us know.

Thank you for that very helpful advice. We will take those steps and see what happens.