A dad who lost his job after leaving work to attend the birth of his son has been offered three new positions.
Lamar Austin, 30, from New Hampshire, US, was on a 90-day trial period as a part-time security guard at Salerno Protective Services and was expected to be on call 24/7.
But on 31 December when his wife was in labour, Austin told his boss he wasn’t able to come into work.
Austin, who also has three children aged eight, three, and 21 months, said he received a reply saying his contract had been terminated.
“I just responded ‘ok,’ ” Austin told the Concord Monitor. “I was in the hospital, it was a long night, and I wasn’t trying to argue with nobody about a job while my wife was in labour.”
The company told HuffPost UK Austin’s termination was “in no way to do with his attending his baby’s birth”.
After news spread that Austin had lost his job, a former town board member, Sara Persechino, set up a GoFundMe campaign for the family to support them financially.
At the time of writing, the page had reached $1,785 (£1,441) of $5,000 (£4,036) goal in just two days.
“No one should have to choose between their family and their job,” Persechino wrote on the page. “Welcoming a new baby to a family should be a joyous time.
“This GoFundMe is an effort to ease any financial pressures they may be facing as they welcome a new member into their family and experience the unexpected loss of income.”
Kelsea Little, a spokesperson for GoFundMe.com, said: “It has been truly amazing to see so many people come together to support this beautiful family in their time of need, and we hope to see donations continue to pour in.”
According to The Independent, Austin has since received three job offers, as well as a local apprenticeship.
“Being shrouded in confidentiality we are unable to comment until all business with Mr. Austin has been concluded,” Anthony Salerno Jr., of Salerno Protective Services said in a statement, according to WCVB5.
“SPS is not in the practice of releasing employees for reasons stated in the article published in the monitor but must be cognizant of the product we give our clients.”