Heat Illness Leads Worker To Loss Of Job

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Heat Illness Leads Worker To Loss Of Job

Posted: 9:52 am CDT August 14, 2010
Updated: 10:05 am CDT August 14, 2010

Lenexa, Kan. -- A golf course groundskeeper said he was fired because he was forced to take some time off after suffering a heat-related illness on the job.

Michael Jennings is enjoying what could be his final days in his new apartment after being fired from his job on the grounds crew at Smiley's Golf Complex in Lenexa. The 19-year-old Lenexa resident said last week he was at work when he began feeling ill while working in the blazing heat.

Jennings' doctor said he suffered a heat-related illness and told him to take a few days off. Jennings said when he went back to work last Friday, he got sick again. The doctor told him to rest over the weekend. Jennings said things had changed when he showed up for work the following Monday.

"At about 4:50 (a.m.), some kid rolled up in his car, and I'm like, 'I don't know who this kid is at 5 in the morning,'" Jennings said. "What's he doing here? And he said, 'I'm here to work on the grounds crew today.' And I said, 'That's my job.'"

Jennings said that's when he knew he'd been fired, although no one had told him. KCTV5 tried Friday to talk to Smiley's owner Dennis Tull but a worker at the complex said Tull was unavailable for comment.

"The law side of it says, if I have a doctor's note, and it's present, and it's presented to the employer and I have a significant reason for being out of work -- especially if my doctor's willing to call them and tell them -- then there is absolutely no reason that they should fire me for that," Jennings said.

In the meantime, Jennings said he is thinking of short-term solutions. "If I don't find a job within the next month, it could happen to the point where they'll evict me from this place, and I'll be back at home with my mom," he said. "Just because I had an illness, which, it really does suck."

The golf course has referred all further inquiries to its lawyer. Jennings, meanwhile, is mulling over the option of hiring a lawyer himself.

Copyright 2010 by KCTV5.com. All rights reserved.

[Janice]

That's too bad. I swear some people are allergic to heat. I think I am. I've hated the heat my entire life. I'd love it if I was on vacation, but to live and work in it, ugh. It actually gives me a feeling of claustrophobia. I hope this kid gets himself straightened out, and gets a get. It's not easy in the age of Obamanomics, but he can try.

[catlover79]

I'd definitely be all over this company. He got sick, on the job, and has the medical documentation to back it up. I hope and pray that all will turn out well for this worker.

[Marvo301]

Originally Posted by catlover79

I'd definitely be all over this company. He got sick, on the job, and has the medical documentation to back it up. I hope and pray that all will turn out well for this worker.

If he decides to sue this company I think he will have a good case!

[Furienna]

It sounds like this wasn't the right job for him. But it still was wrong of his employer to fire him like that. I think a lawsuit is coming up.

[comedyfreak]

We may not be getting the whole story, does he have a history of absences or was it a one time thing? Usually you'll get a verbal warning, followed by a written one before you get fired.

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by Furienna

It sounds like this wasn't the right job for him. But it still was wrong of his employer to fire him like that. I think a lawsuit is coming up.

Oh, I think a lawsuit is DEFINITELY coming up!!

[MickeyMac]

Him getting fired was total bullsh*t.