According to the New York Post, the City of New York fired an employee for missing too much work. Turns out that he had a very good reason for his no-call/no-show: he was dead.
Geoffrey Tolliver, a Medicaid eligibility specialist for the City, went out on a medical leave of absence for cancer in November 2013, and he passed away in December 2014. The City recently moved to terminate his employment because he hadn’t been to work in 18 months. Mr. Tolliver (understandably) did not show up for the hearing, so an administrative law judge approved the termination.
The City says it had been trying to contact Mr. Tolliver for more than a year with no response. Now that it is aware of his death, the City says it will not take any further action.
A friend of Mr. Tolliver was quoted as saying, “He deserves better. The agency itself should have known.”
Indeed. RIP, Mr. Tolliver.
Robin Shea is a Partner with the law firm of Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP and has more than 20 years’ experience in employment litigation, including Title VII and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (including the Amendments Act), the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act, the Equal Pay Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act; and class and collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage-hour laws; defense of audits by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs; and labor relations. She conducts training for human resources professionals, management, and employees on a wide variety of topics.
