Quit my job at of 3 years at DG march of last year because of covid. I live at home and my mom is recovering from lung cancer and while she's mostly good there's some things she can't do. As soon as covid became a significant thing I made sure it was well known that I may need to quarantine with little notice.
As predicted one day her doctor recommended she quarantine, so I had to as well. I didn't get much notice, but I made sure I told my boss as soon as possible. She is supposed to have a schedule up 2 weeks in advance, but she didn't have it for even the next day. I asked for a time off to see about setting up my own little place in the garage, to not have to enter the house and to see if the whole covid thing was gunna blow over. I regularly covered for other employees, including her, and took maybe 1 day off a year for doctor's appointments. She denied my time off. So I had to quit.
I got unemployment successfully, so apparently the state didn't think I was in the wrong, despite me thinking there wasn't a chance in hell.
Fast forward to last week, mom's much healthier, still needs help around the house but her immune system is back to decent shape, so her doctor tells her its safe for me to return to work. I reapply for dollar general, I expected a different location, but my coworkers from my previous location contact me and ask if I'm interested in coming back there. Apparently the manager I dealt with before quit without notice, so I was welcomed back, I was ecstatic.
A few days go by with no word, and I contacted them today and found out that apparently the previous manager had blacklisted me for 'quitting without notice'. And since the district manager was also new and did not know me, he would not override it when requested.
Despite it being a crappy retail position I liked that job, and liked the people I worked with, many of whom are still there. Sucks how much one person who dislikes you can ruin an entire career with a company despite everyone there wanting you back.