The employee claimed that they had been left with no other option than to resign in order to fulfil their swimming career dreams. After making their decision, they took to the popular “Anti Work” subreddit, where users head to express issues with the work force and environments, especially at a structural level.

“My work denied my unpaid time off for 15.31 hours so I can try to make the World Championship Team to represent the U.S. in Paralympic Swimming,” they wrote in the post. “I was forced to resign.”

The swimmer noted that they required a full week off for the trials but will only have 24.69 hours of personal holiday saved up by then. “I am not allowed to work remotely. I offered that as an option to make up for the 15.31.”

They explained that their work uses a “confusing” system that calculates hours down to the hundredths place.

Accessibility in the workplace is a huge issue for those living with disabilities, and the anonymous swimmer is certainly not the first to have it get in their way of working. A U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report of 2020 showed that the unemployment rate for those without disabilities was 7.9 percent but for those with disabilities it was 12.6 percent.

Resigning hasn’t been an issue for the Paralympic hopeful though, as they expressed their gratitude at a work-free period before the trials—regardless of how it came about. “This time in two weeks I’ll be eating Olive Garden, napping and prepping for my races. My happiness and personal life is worth more than 15.31 hours. I can positively impact my community in another way and hopefully with a company that supports my swimming career,” they wrote.

The post received over 30,000 upvotes and more than 700 comments as Reddit users were left raging at the company and were equally bewildered at the company’s lack of desire to be connected to a potential Paralympics success story.

“I wouldn’t be quiet about it. They had a great PR opportunity, where they could brag that they support U.S. Paralympians, but now they actively did not support you. The PR knife cuts both ways,” wrote one user.

“What stupid company passes up the opportunity to blast on social media how they support U.S. Olympic athletes,” added another.

One user suggested an example of how the company could, or should, have handled the situation: “How it should have been done: I work with someone who won Paralympic medals in both summer and winter. Our company typically didn’t do remote work, but we created a ‘consultant’ position so she could live and work remotely at the training center in Colorado Springs.”

The swimmer concluded in a later comment that they had already submitted their letter of resignation and told their supervisors that they are “submitting this resignation under the pretense that I won’t have to pay back my sign on bonus since I have to resign literally three days before that six month period.”