Former Chipotle Worker Claims She Was Fired For Taking Time To Heal After Abusive Situation

(JoshBassett|PHOTOGRAPHY)

A former New York City Chipotle worker is suing the Mexican eatery, claiming she was fired from her job because she took time off to recover from an abusive situation involving her boyfriend. She says in the suit that when she fractured her finger during an altercation with her boyfriend, she was punished for taking time off on the doctor’s orders.

According to the New York Daily News, the woman said she returned ready to work after two weeks away, but her manager didn’t see things the way she did.

“He just sat me down and said, ‘I’m going to have to let you go,’” she told the NYDN. “I’m like, ‘Let go? I don’t understand why.’ And he said, ‘Oh, well, you have too many outside issues. There’s nothing wrong with your job performance. It’s just your situation outside work.”

Since then, she says she’s struggled to take care of herself and her three-month-old daughter. Bils are piling up, she’s in housing court for her apartment and things are generally not going well.

She says she even brought in a police report and a record of her visit to the ER to her next scheduled shift after the incident with her former boyfriend, and received approval to take the time off.

“I went about it the right way to let my job know what happened,” she said. “When I went to my follow-up appointment, they told me the finger needed to do some more healing.”

Chipotle is staying mum for now about the lawsuit, which seeks back wages, a new job and unspecified damages. And now she no longer sees a happy future at the company, one that she used to think about often.

“I was talking to [the manager] about starting training to move up,” she told The News. “I wanted to be a manager. I really enjoyed that company. I didn’t want to leave Chipotle.”

Chipotle sued by woman who says she was fired for taking time off after attack by abusive boyfriend [New York Daily News]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist