A man skipped work for the birth of his son. He was fired while his wife was in labor.

Cainan Austin was born at 7:44 a.m. Sunday, the first baby of 2017 to be born in Concord, New Hampshire.

For his parents, Lamar and Lindsay, Cainan’s birth was the end of two long days of labor that cost the couple far more than most.

That’s because Lamar Austin chose to be with his wife through both Dec. 30 and Dec. 31, even as his employer, Salerno Protective Services, fired him for skipping work, according to an account published in the Concord Monitor.

Austin was just a month into a 90-day trial period as a part-time security guard for Salerno when he was fired. As part of the job, he was expected to be available 24/7, he told the Monitor. However, a snowstorm and a doctor’s appointment for his pregnant wife forced him to miss work on Dec. 28. A few days later, Lindsay Austin went into labor, Lamar told the Monitor.

After the first day of labor, Austin texted his boss telling him he would not be reporting for work before his son was born.

“You’re forcing my hand, if you aren’t in work by 8 tomorrow we are going to terminate you,” his boss texted back, he told the Monitor.

Austin’s response was simple.

“Ok,” he said.

Just an hour into the New Year, Austin received a text informing him he had been fired. And while that may seem unfair to some, New Hampshire, like most states in the U.S., recognizes at-will employment, meaning employers can fire someone without just cause as long as it does not violate anti-discrimination laws. In other words, companies cannot fire someone because of their sex or race, but they can terminate them for other, seemingly trivial, reasons, such as skipping work to attend the birth of one’s child.

In a statement to WMUR, Salerno appeared to cite the needs of its customers as the reason for Austin’s firing.

“Being shrouded in confidentiality, we are unable to comment until all business with Mr. Austin has been concluded," Salerno Protective Services said in a statement. "SPS is not in the practice of releasing employees for reasons stated in the article published in the Monitor but must be cognizant of the product we give our clients.”

The Austins now have four children, they told the Monitor, and Lindsay is a stay-at-home mother.

However, as their story has spread, the Austins have begun to receive support from the community. A GoFundMe page set up by a paid leave advocate on their behalf has raised nearly $1,500 as of Thursday night, and two labor unions, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Concord and the New Hampshire AFL-CIO, have offered him apprenticeships, according to the New York Daily News. The Monitor also reports that he has several job offers.

“Sometimes you lose something, and you get something even better,” Austin said.

This story was originally published January 5, 2017 at 8:18 PM with the headline "A man skipped work for the birth of his son. He was fired while his wife was in labor.."