Single mother Rhiannon Broschat says she was fired from her job at the organic grocery store after she missed a day of work on January 28 to be with her son, a special-needs child who is normally looked after by his grandmother. The 25-year-old Broschat was left in a bind after Chicago Public Schools canceled classes that Tuesday due to particularly frigid weather; she was informed she no longer had a job the next day. “They told me I was terminated due to abusing their attendance policy,” Broschat tells the Sun-Times. A representative for the chain tells the paper that Whole Foods uses a cumulative “point system” when making decisions related to employee attendance and cited a company policy of not discussing specific incidents with the media. Meanwhile, about 40 people, including Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, protested outside the chain’s Midwest regional headquarters yesterday in support of Broschat. [Chicago Sun-Times]
