Sheepshead Man Fired From Job After Sandy Destroyed His Home

If your house gets destroyed, you lose all electricity, and your car is damaged, you would like to imagine that your boss would tolerate you missing a few days of work, especially if you work for a fire protection company, an organization probably sensitive to the needs of people displaced by horrendous property damage. However, according to a report in the New York Post, 26-year-old Antonio Rojas, a Sheepshead Bay resident, experienced no such sensitivity.

Rojas, a (former) dispatcher for Academy Fire Protection in Maspeth, Queens, was let go for missing work during the week Sandy flooded his home. According to Rojas’ lawyers, Matthew Blit and Russell Moriarty, Rojas was told by his company that he would not have to attend work the day following the storm.

Like many Sheepshead residents, Rojas had lost his land line, was without electricity, suffered damage to his car, and had limited cell phone service coupled with a dying battery. When he did manage to contact his employers the following Wednesday, the day after he was told he could stay home, they informed him he was fired for not showing up to work, and for not letting them know earlier that he wouldn’t be able to make it in.

Academy Fire Protection offered no comment to the Post.

Still, in light of the double disaster Rojas experienced, he has stayed optimistic, telling the Post, “I lost a lot but I’m just happy to be alive.”