Massachusetts Man Fired Over Wife's Cancer Diagnosis

When Carl Sorabella told his employer of 14 years, Haynes Real Estate Management of Wellesley Hills, that his wife had been diagnosed with lung cancer, they fired him.

WTF? In this article from WCVB Boston, Sorabella details how he had gone to his employer after learning  his wife of 23 years, Kathy, had been diagnosed with lung cancer and had been told she had mere months to live. Facing this most horrid last roller coaster together, Kathy went on disability, and Carl spoke to his long time employer to inform them of the situation and make arrangements to work nights and weekends to fulfill his job duties and still be able to care for his wife and take her to the numerous and expensive treatments and appointments.

"When I told my boss, she said 'We were thinking about laying you off.' I thought, 'You can't do that,'" Sorabella told WCVB 5 in Boston.

By the end of the week he was told not to worry, but on Monday morning Mr. Sorbella found a note on his desk, firing him. Sorabella said the letter stated he was being laid off due to "workforce modifications." But one week after he was fired, he says he saw a listing for his job on the company website.

"She said, 'It's business. I'm running a company here, and I need to make sure the department runs.' And I argued that I would make sure the company runs," Sorabella said.

As Haynes Management has less than 50 employees, it is not subject to state and federal laws concerning sickness such as the Family and Medical Leave Act.

What You Can Do

Unfortunately, the Sorabellas are not alone in their unfortunate treatment at the hands of an employer.  I am going to use every outlet possible to spread the word about the heinous behavior of Haynes Management. Aside from keeping my blog readers updated on the Sorabellas, I am also regularly posting this information to Facebook, as well as on Twitter under the hashtags #Sorabella and #Haynes Management. It is important that the public understands the actions of this company.

More than just spreading the word of the low character of Haynes Management, there are things we can do to actually help the Sorabellas. Kathy's diagnosis has, thankfully, changed, and she has been given years, not months to live at this point. However, those precious few years come at a high cost to an already financially strained couple. My own family had the misfortune of nursing loved ones through cancer, and aside from the emotional hurricane of the disease and loss, the financial toll is considerable. My charge to you is to help me find if anyone has set up a ChipIn account for the Sorabellas. If we can't locate one by tomorrow, I'll launch one right here on How to Sauté Conservatives where we can all donate via PayPal, any amount. From 1 dollar to 100 it will make a difference. If enough people ChipIn just the amount of spare change in their pocket, it will make the Sorabella's future much less scary, and hopefully will help them to find better times.