Layoff letter to woman with cancer causes outcry

A woman who is battling pancreatic, liver, and ovarian cancer is also now out of a job, thanks to the oral surgeon who employed her for 12 years.

George Visnich laid off the woman in writing shortly after her devastating diagnosis, according to a letter written on his stationery that wound up posted on Facebook and then published the local newspaper this week.

“You are currently engaged in a battle against cancer that will be demanding physically, mentally, and emotionally,” reads the letter to Carol Jumper, 51.

“You will not be able to function in my office at the level required while battling for your life. Because of this, I am laying you off without pay as of August 11, 2014.

Your last paycheck will be mailed to you this Friday, August 15th, 2014. Our thoughts and prayers are with you as you fight this horrible disease. Thanks for your time at Visnich Oral Surgery. I hope your battle is swift, smooth, and successful!”

Neither Visnich nor his lawyer, Larry Kelly, returned calls seeking comment from Yahoo Health in the US today. But Kelly told the local Pennsylvania paper Beaver County Times that the meaning of the letter has been misconstrued, and that it was simply a “humanitarian” gesture to allow Jumper to collect unemployment.

Visnich wrote the letter, Kelly explained, “with the understanding that when she is feeling better, she can come back to work.”

He added that the media coverage, which has blown up this week, has been “very disappointing, in that he’s trying to help this woman and he’s made out to be a villain.”

A friend of Jumper’s, John Barkovich, who has been helping to plan fundraisers in support of her treatment costs, told Yahoo Health that the coverage has indeed gotten out of hand.

“She wants to drop the whole thing,” he said.

“Somebody posted the letter on Facebook with good intentions, to alert friends that Carol is now unemployed.”

He added that Jumper “is not worried about the doctor at all, and she made it quite clear to me that she wants [the attention] diffused.”