Penn. Man Faces Charges for Faking Mother's Death to Miss Work?
Pennsylvania police have charged a man with disorderly conduct for fabricating his mother’s death in order to receive paid leave from work.
Scott Bennett of Brookeville, Penn. published his living mother’s obituary last week in order to receive paid bereavement time off from his place of work. Shortly thereafter, relatives of Bennett and his mother called The Jeffersonian Democrat newspaper where the false obituary was published and reported that the woman was alive and well.
Editor at the newspaper, Randy Bartley, told AP that he had accepted the obituary in good faith after he was unable to confirm the funeral arrangements ahead of press time. According to Bartley the woman herself visited the newspaper and was very understanding.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Police Chief Ken Dworek said that 45-year-old Bennett wrote the memorial notice because he did not want to get fired for taking time off from work.
Bennett will face a legal battle for his dishonesty, which has spurred strong reactions on several social media sites.
“This man faked him mom’s death to get time off- are you kidding me??” Wrote Twitter user @Barron6289.
Facebook user Jeannne wrote, “He couldn’t just call in sick? He went through so much trouble just to get off work.”
Rukia wrote on Facebook, “The sad part is not that he did this, but that he actually believed he would get away with this.”
CNN compiled a list of some of the strangest employee excuses for absences reported in the workplace. Many of the unusual reasons for missing work involved employees’ family members, such as one person who claimed his brother-in-law had been kidnapped by a drug cartel while vacationing in Mexico.
Another excuse included an employee claiming his 12-year-old daughter had stolen his car and he had no other way to work.
In another odd excuse, one worker reported that their child had stuck a mint up their nose and had to visit to emergency room in order to remove it.
The annual survey conducted by the news channel revealed that one-third of employees call in sick more often during the winter holidays than any other time of the year. Also, the report indicated 29 percent of employees citing errands or plans with friends for calling in sick.
CNN also reported that phone calls remain the leading method of reporting an illness or absence, with 84 percent of employees calling their bosses. Emailing excuses are second with 24 percent, and text messaging is third with 11 percent.
