<p>tenisghs - I think the final outcome here is going to depend on your immediate supervisor. That is going to be the person writing your rec, not the VP. It is mandatory that you break your back doing as much as you can from home to move the project along and not leave your supervisor left holding the bag. You have an opportunity here to impress your supervisor with you sense of reponsibility, work ethic, etc. If the supervisor views you as a valuable member of the "team", and perhaps feels that the VP over-reacted, they will be in a position to do everything they can to make sure that you are appropriately rewarded for your efforts when it comes time for an evaluation or for recs.</p>
<p>Maybe because I don't drink coffee? Caffeine does not mix well with me in the morning.</p>
<p>Plus I had a dentist appointment at 7:00am. Why would I wake up at 6:30am?</p>
<p>well where I'm from 30 minutes is MORE than enough time to wake up, brush my teeth, change, and drive to my dentist.</p>
<p>im not trying to be a jerk, i just think it was kind of dumb that you fell asleep. when i think about my internship last summer sitting in a cubicle, id be scared double clicking on Internet explorer for a second during working hours, for fear the boss would walk by.</p>
<p>IIdas, that's where you live. Most people don't have their dentists in their backyard. My dentist was 14 miles away, in addition to the fact I also had to go to work. I couldn't just "wake up and drive." I had to get dressed too? I was fine when I got to work. The medication that I took made me drowsy and sleepy.</p>
<p>In my 5 years of HR experience, I have never heard of an employee (interns included) being terminated in such a way. Sleeping on the job can lead to termination, but only after a thorough investigation. If the employee is found to have been a productive and responsible worker, sleeping on the job once because of extenuating circumstances (and your reasons certainly seem resonable) would never result in termination. That VP did not teach you squat. He/she is full of hot air. Man this makes my blood boil. Even the CEO of a company should just terminate an employee for such a reason without first consulting the employee's supervisor. </p>
<p>I hope you learned not to schedule medical appointments before work, but otherwise, you have nothing to learn from this lesson. Obviously, the US has an employment at will policy which means that an employee can be terminated for a good reason, a bad reason or no reason at all. In your case, you were terminated for no reason at all. </p>
<p>I agree with Texas 100%. Do not lower yourself to that VP's level. Rise above it, work from home (or Kinkos if need be) and complete your assignment.</p>
<p>Alexandre, thank you so much for your input.</p>
<p>My dentist is a very popular one, and I had scheduled this appointment back in June! If I didn't pick that date, I wouldn't have an appt until September, and I will be heading back to school by that time. I didn't learn squat from that VP. He pulled me into a separate room, and told me how he must live up to the company's ethics and values and show the other employees that he's not kidding when he penalizes people for not doing their work. He even talked about the value of a college degree, the CEO doesn't have a college degree, blah blah blah, even though I thought it was irrelevant (was he condescending me because I attend Northwestern when he graduated from Michigan State?) He said that me sleeping was "bleeding the company's payroll" despite my circumstances. And if I was "sick," he said I should have stayed at home. I had my medical papers, and he looked at them. He knew he was wrong, but he wouldn't admit it and said he's "restructuring" so he couldn't let me finish the last 3 days on the job. IIt would go against his "integrity" to re-hire me when he's trying to show an example. I think he was trying to find a reason to fire me, Alexandre, against my supervisor's wishes.</p>
<p>He sounds like a loser. I would tell him so to his face. And then hope that a car ran over him on his way out the door.</p>
<p>I'd like to highlight the below that texas137 said so well. Your only hope of getting a good recommendation from this internship is to stay solidly on your supervisor's good side.</p>
<p>Fair or not, your behavior has caused your supervisor to get into a dispute with his boss, and unless you help the supervisor out by not leaving him holding the bag, the supervisor will not be willing to go out of his way for you when you need a reference.</p>
<p>The VP sounds like he has a problem. You can't change him. Brooding about it won't help you. Doing whatever you can do about that that project will help you and also will show gratitude to your supervisor for sticking out his neck trying to help you.</p>
<p>Whatever happens, you'll be back at Northwestern in a few weeks and can leave the VP in the dust. Your supervisor isn't that lucky.</p>
<p>"I think the final outcome here is going to depend on your immediate supervisor. That is going to be the person writing your rec, not the VP. It is mandatory that you break your back doing as much as you can from home to move the project along and not leave your supervisor left holding the bag. "</p>
<p>I do my own dentistry in the mirror as to avoid this exact problem with scheduling.</p>