Clothing store fires employee after she suffered a near-fatal allergic reaction at work

Danielle Duperreault took to Facebook on June 21 to share the infuriating story about how she got fired from her job as a sales associate at a clothing store called Urban Planet in Canada.

"I got fired today, from Urban Planet. And you all would probably think it would be over tardiness or not doing my job and so on and forth," Duperreault wrote in her post. "But today I came into contact with bell peppers, something I am severely allergic to."

But when Duperreault began going into anaphylactic shock, her manager didn't exactly react the way you would have expected her to.

"She proceeded to show a tremendous amount of attitude," Duperreault wrote. "I did not have an epi pen on me at the time because mine was expired and I needed to get a prescription for a new one. So she told me to go look in my car then proceeded to of wander off, meanwhile I'm getting fainty and I'm vomiting, I went out to my car and searched for one but no luck."

Then, things took a turn for the worse.

"So I go back into the store, gurgling and clutching my throat while customers and a few staff around me were freaking out and that same manager stood calmly at the computer typing away," she wrote. "I proceed to the back room where a male staff member basically had to carry me up the stairs and get my stuff for me, because was so lightheaded I could barley stand up, and I couldn't feel my extremities. I go to clock out when I hear a colleague of mine yell "should I call an ambulance" the manager ignores her."

Luckily, Duperreault had a friend who also worked at Urban Planet who met her in the parking lot and rushed her to a medical clinic for an emergency does of epinephrine.

From there, Duperreault was sent by ambulance to a hospital for further treatment, where she received some terrifying news.

"My throat had almost completely closed and I nearly passed out due to lack of oxygen," she wrote.

%shareLinks-quote="The doctors said if I would have waited another ten minutes I would be dead." type="quote" author="Danielle Duperreault" authordesc="" isquoteoftheday="false"%

But instead of an apology over the incident that nearly claimed her life, Duperreault and the friend who helped her received text messages dismissing them from their positions at the store.

Deperreault asked her friends to "like and share this post to raise awareness about allergies in the workplace. There should be training on how to administer an epi pen, how to handle a situation like that, and how to deal with the after math."

Her post has since been shared over 17,800 times, prompting a response from the company.

Duperreault told CBC News that the parent company of Urban Planet, Y.M. Inc., contacted her and that the CEO personally apologized for how the situation was handled.

She also said Y.M. Inc. has agreed to "work something out" so she's financially covered until she can find another job.

No word yet on the fate of her manager, but Duperreault says she'd greatly appreciate at least an apology from her.

"The person that really needs to apologize is my boss because it was her decision to handle the things the way she did and to terminate me," she told CBC News. "I feel if anyone needs to apologize it needs to be her."

(h/t Buzzfeed)

Related: The most common food allergies to be aware of: