Answer

Thanks, again.

The retirement community's employee handbook may have a discipline policy. It would be good to look closely at it to see if the policies were properly carried out. If not, you could ask -- and perhaps hire a lawyer to help you.

There may be other factors, including various forms of discrimination (race, sex, age, if over 40, eg) but you would be best served to bring any information to a local lawyer in your area to discuss those possibilities.

Additionally, you may want to try to find out what your colleague said -- and put together any evidence helpful to you; for instance, were there any email communications or other provable communications with her about the break to ensure coverage?

Even if you ultimately decide the job itself is not worth fighting for, it is important to try to get the employer not to list this as a firing for "cause" (in this case, dereliction of duty). If there's good cause, then you could be denied unemployment insurance.

You should also try to negotiate a favorable letter of reference.

Ultimately, its hard to fight alone if the company digs in. For that reason, I do recommend consulting an employment attorney in your area. A good way to find one is to ask first any lawyers you know (even if not doing employment law) whom they would see if they had a similar problem. You might also ask friends, coworkers or neighbors if they've had good experiences with lawyers who have experience in employment law.

If these steps do not work, you might also try a database many lawyers use: http://www.martindale.com/Find-Lawyers-and-Law-Firms.aspx

You enter your city, state and the kind of lawyer you need (employment), and the director will provide a list with ratings. The ratings are not perfect, but they are a good starting point.

I do suggest interviewing more than a single lawyer, unless you have good references from people you trust -- and focus on (1) your comfort with that lawyer and (2) how much experience he or she has in cases like yours. Experience is a big plus.

Finally, if you can't afford a lawyer, you can find free or reduced fee legal service agencies either at the interactive website run by the American Bar Association, where you point at your state on the map, click, and a list of services pops up.

www.abanet.org/legalservices/probono/directory.html

Also, for Florida, another nonprofit website provides information on free or reduced fee legal services:
hhttp://www.floridalawhelp.org/FL /StateSubTopics.cfm/County/%20/City/%20/demoMode/=%201/Language/1/State/FL/TextOnly/N/ZipCode/%20/LoggedIn/0/iTopicID/605/sTopicImage/g-work.gif/bAllState/0/County/%20/City/%20/demoMode/%3D%201/Language/1/State/FL/TextOnly/N/ZipCode/%20/LoggedIn/0/changelocation/1

I wish you all the best as you seek to resolve this matter. Sincerely, XXXXXXXX XXXXX.