Woman Fired From Clothing Store For Having Severe Allergic Reaction, Let Go Via Text While In Ambulance


Danielle Duperreault says she was fired from clothing company Urban Planet after she went into anaphylactic shock while working. To make matters worse, the young woman notes that her pleas for help were ignored by her supervisor, who dismissed the severity of her allergy. Fortunately, Danielle’s friend, who also works at Urban Planet, saw she was in distress and took her to a nearby clinic. Her allergic reaction was so bad she was rushed to a nearby hospital in an ambulance. However, while still in the ambulance, Danielle says she received a shocking text message from her Urban Planet supervisor noting that she had been fired.

Buzzfeed reports that one young woman from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, was shocked when her supervisor fired her for suffering a severe allergic reaction at work. Danielle Duperreault notes that she has a series of severe food allergies and typically carries an epi pen with her in her purse. However, her epi pen had recently expired and she was waiting for a prescription refill. Therefore, when Danielle came into contact with some bell peppers whiles working at Urban Planet, a food which she is severely allergic, she was not prepared and needed immediately medical help.

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Danielle notes that after coming into contact with the bell pepper, she informed her supervisor that she needed medical help as her throat was beginning to swell. However, instead of providing much-needed assistance, Danielle says the supervisor dismissed the severity of the situation and paid no attention as she vomited and “felt fainty.” The young woman says she rushed to her car to search for a different epi pen but could not find one and came back into the store for help as she clutched her throat in distress and began gurgling as he throat constricted. The supervisor allegedly continued typing as the employee struggled and still did not believe the young woman was in real medical distress.

“She proceeded to show a tremendous amount of attitude, I did not have an epi pen on me at the time because mine was expired and I needed to get a prescription for a new one. So she told me to go look in my car then proceeded to of wander off. Meanwhile I’m getting fainty and I’m vomiting, I went out to my car and searched for one but no luck. So I go back into the store, gurgling and clutching my throat while customers and a few staff around me were freaking out and that same manager stood calmly at the computer typing away.”

Fortunately for Danielle, her friend arrived and noted that immediate medical care was needed and drove the young woman to a nearby clinic. Danielle’s throat was beginning to close up so the clinic administered an epi pen and ordered that Danielle be taken by ambulance to a hospital. Once at the hospital, doctors informed Danielle that if she had been just 10 minutes later making it to the hospital that she would have died.

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However, it seems that the supervisor at Urban Planet still didn’t understand the severity of the situation and sent a text message to the ailing employee that noted her services would no longer be needed. Danielle says she received the text message while she was being transported to the hospital in the ambulance.

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Danielle posted her story to Facebook and it immediately went viral. The former Urban Planet employee says she hopes her story will help change the way employers treat employees with allergies. Danielle says she hopes that more companies will train staff in how to administer epi pens and the proper methods of handling medical emergencies associated with severe allergies.

Urban Planet told Buzzfeed that they investigated the situation and found that the supervisor’s actions were “unacceptable.”

“We have thoroughly investigated this. Simply put, the actions were unacceptable.”

Following the investigation into the incident, Danielle has revealed that Urban Planet has agreed to pay her until she finds a new job.

[Image via Facebook/ Danielle Dupperreault/ Yelp/ Urban Planet]

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