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Dolphins fire scout for working from home to care for terminally ill wife


Klecko73isGod

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Its not the cost of their insurance that blew up. The Dolphins chose a plan that didn't cover the wife's illness anymore.

I don't see how that indicts the Dolphins of anything. Unless there's evidence of them specifically changing plans to get him out. But then again- why wouldn't they just fire him?

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I don't see how that indicts the Dolphins of anything. Unless there's evidence of them specifically changing plans to get him out. But then again- why wouldn't they just fire him?

 

Dude, you need to read articles before you comment on them:

 

The intent-to-initiate-litigation letter also states the Dolphins began excluding cystic fibrosis medications from their health care when revamping their insurance offerings in April. Harr told FOX Sports 1 that the cost of one prescription skyrocketed from $10 to $3,000 per pill under the new policy.

"It is our understanding that Cystic Fibrosis was the only terminal medical condition singled out," the letter states. "This drastic reduction in health care benefits jeopardized JoAnne Sullivan's ability to afford her pharmaceuticals, shifting an exorbitant financial burden on the Sullivans."

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Again- that doesn't indict the Dolphins of anything. Hickey has the right to hire his own scouting dept.

 

He does. And Florida is a right to work state and Sullivan was an at will employee. 

 

Hickey and the Dolphins ****ed up royally by telling him that his situation didn't work for Hickey and that's why he was being fired. Legally they don't need to give him a reason but they did and he can use it against them. They should have just told him they were moving in another direction and Hickey was hiring scouts he was familiar with. 

 

That is why they are a circus. 

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He does. And Florida is a right to work state and Sullivan was an at will employee.

Hickey and the Dolphins ****ed up royally by telling him that his situation didn't work for Hickey and that's why he was being fired. Legally they don't need to give him a reason but they did and he can use it against them. They should have just told him they were moving in another direction and Hickey was hiring scouts he was familiar with.

That is why they are a circus.

I'm happy that they're a circus. But they didn't really do anything wrong here. Having a terminally ill wife is terrible, and it seems the Dolphins catered to that for a while. But Hickey also has a job to do. If I were to guess this scout stuck around working from home because the organization was scared of litigation. Hickey just decided to go with it I guess.

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I'm happy that they're a circus. But they didn't really do anything wrong here. Having a terminally ill wife is terrible, and it seems the Dolphins catered to that for a while. But Hickey also has a job to do. If I were to guess this scout stuck around working from home because the organization was scared of litigation. Hickey just decided to go with it I guess.

 

:face:

 

Legally wrong is debatable. They did allow this to go on for 10 years and then seemingly tried to get the guy to quit by changing the insurance coverage (at least that is what his lawyer will argue) and when he didn't they stupidly told him the real reason why they were firing him which they were under no legal obligation to give him. But once they did, if he can prove their motivations were in any way discriminatory, he can sue. Regardless of legality, the organization looks like heartless pricks. 

 

Not to mention that if you were the Dolphins organization, when considering all of the off field BS they've dealt with in the last 10 months, no one consults with legal or public relations before firing someone? 

 

If the Jets did this, Skip Bayless would be ranting about it on ESPN for hours today.

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I don't see how that indicts the Dolphins of anything. Unless there's evidence of them specifically changing plans to get him out. But then again- why wouldn't they just fire him?

 

Matt - read the article.

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I'm happy that they're a circus. But they didn't really do anything wrong here. Having a terminally ill wife is terrible, and it seems the Dolphins catered to that for a while. But Hickey also has a job to do. If I were to guess this scout stuck around working from home because the organization was scared of litigation. Hickey just decided to go with it I guess.

 

Well the courts will decide that.  If your read the article they talk about the exclusion for one particular type of drug.  If that is true, that is beyond terrible.

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whoever gets their side of the story out first has a big advantage in the court of public opinion. fortunately that is not how justice is usually decided. the scout's lawyer's version sounds pretty despicable and going public is probably payback for the team not agreeing to a quiet hush settlement. if it's 100% accurate you would've expected money to change hands and for this to be buried. will be interesting to see the dolphin's side of this.

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Well the courts will decide that.  If your read the article they talk about the exclusion for one particular type of drug.  If that is true, that is beyond terrible.

 

I read the article. Maybe I'm unfamiliar with the ADA act- but under it is an employer not allowed to terminate an employee with a terminally ill spouse? If so, then yeah the Dolphins are screwed.

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whoever gets their side of the story out first has a big advantage in the court of public opinion. fortunately that is not how justice is usually decided. the scout's lawyer's version sounds pretty despicable and going public is probably payback for the team not agreeing to a quiet hush settlement. if it's 100% accurate you would've expected money to change hands and for this to be buried. will be interesting to see the dolphin's side of this.

 

Agreed. The human element should always be the number one priority regardless. However, we all know its always $ first feelings second.

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They will probably settle, but the Dolphins should not have to pay anything.  They don't determine the list of drugs that are approved under the health plan of who ever they participate with. And, an accomodation was made for this scout under previous regimes, but the nature of the job he was holding was determined to require travel that he was unable to accomplish under this regime.  That is an acceptable reason to terminate him.  The American with Disabilities Act requires employers to make all reasonable accomodations, but having a scout be home bound just does not seem reasonable.

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I read the article. Maybe I'm unfamiliar with the ADA act- but under it is an employer not allowed to terminate an employee with a terminally ill spouse? If so, then yeah the Dolphins are screwed.

 

At will employees can be let go at any time.

 

My point is IF they went through their medical expenses and removed the drug that his wife needs as some sort of retribution -- then they have a whole world of hurt coming their way.

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They will probably settle, but the Dolphins should not have to pay anything.  They don't determine the list of drugs that approved under the health plan of who ever they participate with. And, and accomodation was made for this scout under previous regimes, but the nature of the job he was holding was determined to require travel that he was unable to accomplish under this regime.  That is an acceptable reason to terminate him.  The American with Disabilities Act requires employers to make all reasonable accomodations, but having a scout be home bound just does not seem reasonable.

 

The facts have to come out, but if this part is true:

 

The intent-to-initiate-litigation letter also states the Dolphins began excluding cystic fibrosis medications from their health care when revamping their insurance offerings in April. Harr told FOX Sports 1 that the cost of one prescription skyrocketed from $10 to $3,000 per pill under the new policy.

"It is our understanding that Cystic Fibrosis was the only terminal medical condition singled out," the letter states. "This drastic reduction in health care benefits jeopardized JoAnne Sullivan's ability to afford her pharmaceuticals, shifting an exorbitant financial burden on the Sullivans."

 

 

Then the Dolphins are going to have to pay.

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At will employees can be let go at any time.

 

My point is IF they went through their medical expenses and removed the drug that his wife needs as some sort of retribution -- then they have a whole world of hurt coming their way.

 

And that seems absurd if that were the case...almost too absurd. And I dont know if the Dolphins have total control over what's covered and what isnt on their plans. They do have to sign up for the plan the best suits the entire organization. Everyone's did recently change as well.

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And that seems absurd if that were the case...almost too absurd. And I dont know if the Dolphins have total control over what's covered and what isnt on their plans. They do have to sign up for the plan the best suits the entire organization. Everyone's did recently change as well.

 

Well I can't speak to their plan.  I can speak to other small business plans and these options (excluding things) do exist.  Well, they used to exist, not sure about going forward.

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Well I can't speak to their plan.  I can speak to other small business plans and these options (excluding things) do exist.  Well, they used to exist, not sure about going forward.

 

Was working for a smaller consulting firm last year and they dumped ours completely.

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The facts have to come out, but if this part is true:

 

Then the Dolphins are going to have to pay.

 

That one will be tough to prove because they are working with an insurance company and we all know how our benefits have been cut back over recent years.  The bottom line is that anyone can sue over anything, but winning is another story.  If I was arguing the case for the scout, I would ask for documentation of his performance and proof that his accomodation had caused him to perform poorly in the job.  Then I would ask if they had tried to accomodate him with another position within the organization based on his years of service with the team.  In these cases, the big bad corporate organization can't help, but look bad.  That is why there are so many settlements.

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