DH sacked for adopting a baby

I hope this is the right place to put this post.

My husband and I were due to leave for Vietnam to adopt a baby on February 10th. As you can imagine this has been planned for some time. His boss has known all along and one time threatened to sack my DH saying he doesn't agree with adoption, or having asian children on his property (we live at the job).
At the time DH spoke with the head office who said that he can't be sacked without good reason, they spoke with his boss and we thought everything was sorted out.
This morning his boss has told him, I don't care if it isn't legal or not, I will sack you and I will find a reason to sack you. His wife yelled at DH saying we are bringing a diseased orphan onto her property to spread disease to her grandkids! So basically we are now screwed.
Two weeks notice, no home, no jobs, DH is not eligible for any assistance because he is not an Aus resident. And how can we possible afford all the expense of adopting a child with no jobs or money?
I am a total loss of what to do now. So I suppose today I better start job hunting FWIW we are willing to relocate anywhere in Australia, my DH is Romanian but speaks good english, and fluent Italian, he is super hard working and organised and has experience as a marine mechanic, salesman (fashion retail) and as a farm manager. If anybody knows of any jobs going, preferably with accomodation, please tell us.

Ok, I'm off to search for jobs.

Jeanette

Jeanette that is just awful. They have no right. Can you speak to someone about it like legal aid or even your local member of parliment ?

People like that make my blood boil. Goodluck trying to find work it is hard enough at the best of times.

Love :smt049

Jeanette,

That is shocking. I am gobsmacked.

What is it that your DH does for a living in this job?

If I was you I would get back onto head office and explain what has now happened. And also record dates & times & specifics of all "conversations" that you both have with with them and with the boss.

I am not clear at all on adoption legislation in relation to work-practice: I have a feeling it is simply down to company policy a lot of the time.

Keep us posted.

I have already spoken to Jean about this, but I think that while nothing justifies what he has said / done, his boss is scared as Jean's hubby is a chicken farmer. The boss is probably concerned with the bird flu being brought into his farm (which hopefully will not mutate into a human contractable flu) which would destroy his business. Again he has gone about it the wrong way but I think this is why. If it is plain racism, then this guy is an absolute disgrace. I still think it should be followed up as he has acted illegally. Were there any witnesses Jean?

Good luck Jean, thinking of you.

Hi Kelly,

The chicken flu is definitely a factor, but actually when we first told him we were going to adopt a baby a couple of months ago, he told my DH the same thing (this was before chicken flu). But when DH talked with the head of the company, he spoke with his boss and told him this was illegal. Perhaps now that the chicken flu has arrived, he will be able to use that as an excuse too.
I've applied for a heap of jobs today, so will see how we go.

Thanks for the support everyone.

Jeanette

Chicken flu or no chicken flu. Your adopted child will still have to go through medical examinations etc anyway before entering into Australia !!

So it would be a pretty crappy excuse imo

Love :smt049

Thats disgusting behaviour. I just dont know what to say except that I am really mad right now.

Sending you and DH lots of hugs

Jen

That is just disgusting Jean!!!!!!! I'm in shock that people still behave that way!! My good friends have just gotten home Tuesday from Taiwan picking up their second child from this orphanage... and he is the most beautiful boy Luke, their daughter is four and came from the same orphanage but her mum was vietnamese... and they say a lot of people in the school system are the most discriminatory towards their daughter, and the father is a primary school teacher!! Unbelievable. Their daughter is the most beautiful child and so smart and loving! It is awful that people out there can't see beyond their own lives. My friends waited 2 years for their daughter and 10 months for their new son, and it cost them over $10,000, so the decision must have been made out of love of children. If I hear of anything for your DH I will let you know!

Christy

Thanks Christy,

I am constantly amazed that these attitudes continue to exist in today's society. I have travelled a lot and whereever I go, I witness racism of some kind. In Italy I was very popular, right up until the day I started seeing my Romanian DH, suddenly nobody wanted to know me anymore, because I was associating with Romanians. Then I went to Romania, and the Romanian people showed a similar racist attitude towards the Gypsies. Now here in our own country, there is so much racism, and my DH's boss is a Serbian immigrant who has been well accepted into our society and shown a lot of tolerance, yet he feels he has the right to prejudice against other nationalities. When will people learn?

I agree with everyone so far, I am totally shocked. I too first thought of Chicken flu when I read your first post, but like Kathryn said it doesn't matter. No Employee has the right to determine your future in such a way. I would definitley seek legal advice right away, and make sure you keep a diary of all conversations with you, DH & Employer from now on, make sure you date and time everything and take down names of any other witnesses of any conversations, for legal reasons.

Goodluck Jean, I know how bad you want this!

*hugs*
Cailin

Jean,

Any news on the job front for either you or dh? If you would like, I can get hubby to send his resume to his work's HR - they have heaps of jobs going all the time from basic stuff in the warehouse to merchandising to whatever - they are a very large manufacturing company and have excellent policies in place. So email it to me if you like!

Hi Kelly,

No luck yet on the jobs front. I will send you my DH's resume, thanks for that.
Today was a very busy day, as we had our meeting with immigration. Everything looks fine as far as the adoption goes, looks like we won't have any problems. Except that we need an assessment from a social worker, but we can't find a social worker who will do it. Other than that, and the employment issue, everything looks great.

Jeanette

Jeanette why are the social workers saying no?

I hope that everything turns around for you soon. How much longer will the process for the Adoption be?

Well the social workers are contracted with the Australian international adoption program, and because we are going through immigration and my husband is not a permanent resident, we aren't going through their program. And they won't help you if you aren't going through their program. I have written to immigration, as they were the ones to refer me to Aus Intercountry Adoption, and told them what happened and hopefully they will find someone else to help us. I am also going to look in the yellow pages.

Lara - the process should be around 5-6 months overseas, plus a fair bit of paperwork once the baby arrives in Australia.

I just read your post and I'm so shocked that this type of thing can still happen in todays day and age. I really think you should seek legal council, and look into sueing for unfair dismissal. They would probably take on your case for a % of the payout, so there would probably be no upfront cost. I know the timing is bad with everything else that is going on, but I think if I were in the same situation I'd do it just on the principle.

I know this is a really old post, but I was just wondering if anyone knows what happened? I have read these posts and I am absolutely disgusted!
You poor thing Jeanette.

Last we heard Pee Jeanette & DH were overseas picking up their little one, and were unable to get to computers... hopefully they should be back soon! But it can take a while, because there has to be court dates through the adoption process and then they have to wait 4 weeks before being able to take the child out of that country and into Australia...


Christy