Hortons server fired for staying home sick

A single mother was fired from a local Tim Hortons after staying home from work because she was sick with the flu.

The company says there was a misunderstanding and has offered Jennifer Schaap her job back, but she's no longer interested.

Schaap thought the job would be the key to a better life for herself and her three-year-old daughter. That was in August, when she started working at a Concession Street Hortons store in a part-time job that promised a chance at full-time hours. In October, sick with the flu, she dragged herself to work anyway and collapsed in front of a customer.

"I was standing there and I could hear him, but I couldn't see anything," she said. "Then I went down and couldn't breathe. A supervisor had to take me to emergency."

Told not to come back to work without a doctor's note, Schaap stayed home until she was fired by telephone for not coming to work.

In an e-mail exchange, Tim Hortons public affairs director David Morelli said the whole thing was a misunderstanding.