Reading text 2:
March 11th, 2005
Dear Mr. Witherspoon,
I'm writing to you in the hopes that you will understand my situation. I trust that by now you will have heard about my situation from my manager. I hope that I can at least be given the chance to explain my side of the story. As for my manager, she is only doing her job, but I do think she has been totally unreasonable in following company policy to the letter and not giving the least bit of consideration to normal human error.
I was very ill from February 20th to 24th, and I took those days off work to recover. I did not go to the doctor as it was just a case of food poisoning, and all I really needed was bed rest. I did, however, call each day to tell my manager. When I returned to work, she asked me for a doctor's note, and I told her I couldn't produce one. That was the last I heard about it until payday when I noticed that my pay was short. I asked my manager about it, and she told me that I wasn't being paid for the days I was home sick from work. That's when she told me about the policy. And when I complained, she insisted I bring it up with you.
Needless to say, I'm very upset that this money was withheld from my pay. It was my understanding that I was allowed to take paid sick days from work, and I'm sorry to say that I had no idea about this policy about having to hand in a doctor's note. I really need that money as I have a very tight budget this month. It was a mistake, and, had I known, I certainly would have gone to the doctor about my condition. I hope you can understand my situation.
Yours sincerely,
Brenda Wilson