Ok, let me start off by saying that I love Jason's daycare and he loves going there. But there has been some stuff going on lately that I'm not happy with. I want to get your unbiased opinions before I tell you what I think about all of it...

A few weeks ago, the director and assistant director were both fired with no prior notice, and the parents were not told why they were fired. A lot of the teachers quit after that because they did not agree with the firings. Only this past weekend when Jason's old teacher came to our house to visit him (she quit because she's pregnant and moving, not because of this). She doesn't even know the exact story and said she's heard about ten different versions. But basically this is what happened: The director (C), the assistant director (A), and another teacher (L) were all in the office talking. It was C's birthday and they were joking around about what his gift should be. Someone (it's unclear whether it was C or A) said L could be his birthday present. Then someone said L and another teacher (S) should both be his present. L thought the whole thing was funny and went to S to tell her about it. S took it badly and told her boyfriend about it. The boyfriend called and said if nothing was done about this, that they would sue for sexual harrassment. So that's why C was fired. Then A was fired because she had a friend who did not work for the daycare in the center for over half an hour.

So what do you guys think? Do you think C and A should have been fired immediately, if at all? Do you think S's reaction was justified or did she overreact?

I think it was her boyfriend that overreacted. I'm betting S thought it was funny too and told her boyfriend about it because he thought it was funny and then her BF blew it out of proportion.

I don't think any of them should have been fired. Maybe talked to about the situation or, worst case scenario, been suspended for a week.

My gosh, where I used to work, we would have all been fired for some of the stuff we said to each other :lol: It's just who you are talking to and everyone knows it's a joke, though.

I don't think anyone should have been fired over that. :rolleyes: Like Nocona said, a talking to or maybe a suspension would have been enough.

i think the boyfriend was totally overreacting too, and the firing unjustified.

goes to show you really have to watch what you say in the workplace these days :nod:

I agree, the boyfriend totally overreacted. You should hear the way people talk where I work!

Geez! It's not like they were going at it on the desk at the office! They were joking. No one should have been fired.

If that's really why they were fired, that's ridiculous. A reprimand might have been in order or maybe a suspension, but firing them is absurd.

Dennis

I don't think they should have been fired over that (definitely reprimanded, but not fired), but as a manager, I know that all too often, there is much more to the story than what people think! :nod:

Oh, and it would have been illegal for the parents to have been told the reason for the firing (if it was truly based on performance issues). My company was actually sued a few years ago by a former employee who claimed that her former boss told employees the reason for her termination.

Thank you for all your replies! I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that it was ridiculous. And guess who suffers the most from this? The kids! Jason's had at least four different teachers in his class since then, while they figure out which sub they're going to hire full-time. With all the other teachers that left, there's at least 50% subs at the daycare right now. And I'm not sure how S took it before she told her BF about it... She doesn't seem like the kind of person to me who would be that easily offended. I tried to imagine how I would feel if it were me who worked there and they were talking about... I think if it were someone else who said it I *might* feel weird about it, but knowing C, who I think is a great person, I can't imagine being offended by that. Oh and I figured it was probably illegal for them to give the details of why they were fired to the parents, but a lot of us were pretty upset by the whole thing. Actually a lot of parents pulled their kids from the center because of that.

I think they've found someone permanent for Jason's classroom though. He seems to like her, and she's worked with 2-year-olds before. Jason LOVED seeing his old teacher when she came over last weekend. I'm really sad that she's not coming back after the baby's born. But she does want to keep in touch with Jason because he was one of her favorites. :)