Man Fired For Attending Son’s Birth Receives EPIC Surprise From Total Strangers Days Later

Lamar Austin from New Hampshire reportedly lost his job after he chose to attend his son’s birth instead of a weekend shift at work.

According to the UK Independent,

Lamar worked for a private security company and was in the midst of a 90-day trial period that required him to be on call at all times. But when his wife Lindsay went into labor one Friday evening, Lamar chose to stay with her.

As a result, The Concord Monitor reports, Lamar received a text at 1 a.m. on New Year’s Day that read, “As of now, you are terminated.”

News of Lamar’s predicament quickly spread around his area, prompting Sara Persechino – a paid family leave advocate and former town board member – to launch a GoFundMe page for him and his family.

“I don’t think they should have to be worrying about financial issues right now,” she said. “I don’t think anyone should ever have to choose between their family and their job.”

Persechino describes the fundraiser as “an effort to ease any financial pressures [Lamar’s family] may be facing.”

But that’s not all. In addition to Persechino’s support, Lamar has reportedly received several job offers – including one from his local labor union.

“Sometimes you lose something and you get something even better,” he said. “I’m thanking God for delivering one of the many promises.”

Lamar with his wife Lindsay and their children (newborn son on the bottom right). Image via GoFundMe

Lamar Austin’s former employer has reportedly refused to go into detail on the matter.

The company’s CEO did send the following statement to The Concord Monitor, however.

Being shrouded in confidentiality we are unable to comment until all business with Mr. Austin has been concluded. SPS is not in the practice of releasing employees for reasons stated in the article you published but must be cognizant of the product we give our clients!

The Concord Monitor does state that New Hampshire laws would not make Lamar’s termination unlawful.

“That means Austin has little in the way of protection, no matter how good an excuse the birth of a child might seem,” reads the article.

Nonetheless, many have taken to the web to criticize the company – and share similar experiences.

“It’s sad,” wrote Gojisoji on Reddit, where Lamar’s story has made it to the front page. “I work for a security company here in Florida and my GM as well as most other captains would try and [do this sort of thing] all the time.”

“Literally just talked to someone the other day about a situation like this,” wrote ScrufferPupper. “Dude broke his hand, tried to call in saying he needed to go to the hospital. Manager says, nope unless he can call up his coworkers to take the shift.”

“Outcome? Guy never went to the hospital.”

Sources:
Reddit
GoFundMe
The Concord Monitor
UK Independent