A long story short… had partial knee surgery and good recovery and rehab. Told to try and keep clear of stairs or climbing on rebar. Well, got cleared to work and began a CST job. Nothing but walking around the site for two months. Doing good.! After two months we started going up to the 2nd and 3rd floors That’s when my knee started to give out walking up and down stairs and on rebar for 2-3 hours at a time watching workers. I asked repeatedly for permission to go have my knee evaluated by my surgeon in Italy for 4 days off. The TL flatly denied my request due to manning problems. But the TL let another CST go take a 5 day vacation to another country to take a government test for another agency.!! Wow… such a slap in the face.! Kept asking for weeks and weeks and got the same old answer…. Can’t let you go because we are short manpower. Finally, after the pain was so bad I I said I need to go. The TL said I can’t guarantee if you can return and that lead to… If you leave you’ll not return and you must give a written statement saying you will not return. Resign only.! Out briefed with the acting SSM and he said you’re going to have a problem. Stated, DOS will probably mess around with your clearance and just put you in a hold position as punishment for breaking your contract and leaving early. They may hold your clearance for awhile to let you think what you just did.!!!
Wowow… never ever had a problem in Scattered Castles with other 3 letter agencies for many years but with DOS this is down right scary now. For emergency medical leave I could get punished.
Please advise only with rock solid solutions of how to handle this.