🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
Viewers of a viral video applauded a man who said he quit his job of seven years—and danced out of the building—after his supervisor denied his request to take two days of vacation time.
Damion Draper, QMHP, MPA, posted the video to his account @deedraper23 on June 29 where it amassed more than 450,000 views. It comes at a time when experts say the Great Resignation was inevitable with the old way of working. You can view the video here.
He shared an image of the email he received that rejected his request, which informed him that he can choose to switch shifts with a fellow employee in order to take the days off from work.
'If You Lack Compassion, You Lack Humility'
In an email sent to Newsweek, Draper said he worked as a case manager for children and adolescents for two years before working as a crisis clinician with children and adults.
He said there have been recent issues with the administration denying vacation days. In this particular instance, Draper said he requested leave without pay due to a lack of PTO hours.
"We experienced some trauma this year which led to me having to exhaust my PTO hours," he explained.
However, Draper said he was advised that the administration could not deny or confirm vacation days until the week of the requested date. He said employees are typically required to submit their requests two weeks in advance.
Immediately after he learned his request for vacation was denied, Draper knew he would resign from his position. He said he spent the last five years working holidays and additional shifts.
"Administration never contacted me or seemed to care why I was requesting the leave without pay," he said. "Their lack of compassion was just unacceptable."
Staffing has also been stretched thin in his department for about a year because of inconsistent supervision, Draper said.
In addition to having his time off request rejected, Draper said there were other factors that led him to resign.
He said he filed reports of discrimination at the hands of his supervisor but was told there was no evidence to support the case.
After he resigned, Draper said his supervisor contacted him via text to ask that he contact the HR department to officially process his resignation.
And, although he initially did not want to meet with a compliance agent to provide feedback about the organization, he decided to do so.
"I provided this feedback because if there is any chance I can aid someone who has felt the way I did I was going to take the time to do so," Draper said.
He said he hopes that other organizations spend time learning compassion for their employees.
"It doesn't matter how many letters you have behind your name or how much money you have in the bank
," Draper said.
What To Do When A Time Off Request Is Denied
When an employee's request to take time off is denied, Glassdoor recommended a few different tips.
Lois A. Krause, MBA, told Glassdoor that an employee should submit their request at the right time, which may mean after finishing a successful project.
Krause said employees may ask why their request was denied in a professional manner, and they should show that their work is caught up before taking the time off.
If an employee's time off request is still denied, Krause suggested going to the human resources department.
"Request a meeting with HR to investigate why you have been denied, ask for the policy to be explained again to you and ask the best way to proceed in this case," she said.
'What Any Texan Would Do'
In his video, Draper showed the email he received from his supervisor.
"I did what any Texan would do," Draper said as he danced in different rooms and hallways. "I quit and walked out like this."
Draper then showed clips sewn together showing him dancing on a chair in what appears to be a breakroom, dancing with one foot on a weight scale while he fiddled with the slide, dancing next to an office chair, and then finally dancing on a medical exam table before slowly dancing his way down the hallway, presumably toward the exit of the building.
'PTO Stands for Prepare The Others'
Many rushed to the comments section to applaud him for leaving the job.
"I be quitting when people be asking for a reason or for a doctors note for proof of why I called off...like you are not my parents lol," a viewer wrote.
"PTO stands for prepare the others," another commented. "Cause I. Ain't. Coming."
"Me letting you know is a courtesy, I'm still not gonna be there," one viewer wrote.
When asked how far in advance Draper requested his vacation time, he replied and said more than 35 days in advance.
Follow Up: The Resignation Letter
Draper posted a second video showing the resignation letter he said he sent.
In the letter, he said he was resigning "effective immediately" and that he felt his words "hold no merit" with the organization.
"I will only say that this organization serves many black and brown individuals yet has no incentive in place to hire or retain more black and brown employees," the letter states.
It goes on and notes that Draper has felt "undervalued, belittled, discriminated against and not respected as a clinician."
The letter concludes by urging the organization to focus on compassion for compliance to improve.
Quitting Over Rejected Requests
Other employees shared that quit their jobs when their request to take time off from work was denied.
A man posted on the Reddit forum "Malicious Compliance" that he had enough vacation time for his honeymoon, but his supervisor rejected his request. He said ultimately decided to leave his role with the company.
One man took to the Reddit forum "Antiwork and said his wife faced pushback from her department head after she requested unpaid time off from work. She decided to resign immediately after learning that the department head formally rejected the request.
Another post published on "Antiwork" described a woman's decision to walk out of work after her boss refused to approve her vacation.
Updated 07/13/2022, 4:44 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with a verified video of the incident.
About the writer
Catherine Ferris is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting for the U.S. Trends Team. She ... Read more