The 28-year-old man, who goes by u/Alfredd6, wrote a post on the popular Subreddit “Am I the A**hole” about missing his daughter’s birth to work.

The head chef has ruffled everyone’s feathers and has been voted an “a**hole” by over 12,000 users. The lengthy post has received over 10,900 upvotes and more than 2,200 comments. You can read the original thread here.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons, with continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave.

Eligible employees are entitled to 12 work weeks of leave in a 12-month period for the birth of a child and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth.

However, the original poster explained he was told he would be “unemployed” by his dad, who owns the Italian restaurant, if he left to be there for the birth.

He said: “My dad is a real a**hole, but he keeps me employed. He owns a pretty nice Italian restaurant that has been run by my family for decades. I’ve worked there since I was about 15 and I am now head chef. The problem is he treats his employees pretty bad (including me) and if you even miss one shift you get demoted or even worse fired.

“I was in the middle of a very hectic shift on the busiest day of the week when my mother-in-law called saying my wife went into labor and I needed to get to the hospital right away.

“When I asked my dad if I could go he said ‘You can go if you’re ok with being unemployed’ which I couldn’t risk because after the baby was born my wife would be off work for quite a while to be a stay-at-home mom.”

The original poster continued to explain he couldn’t leave as the restaurant is “understaffed” but when he finally finished, he headed straight to the hospital.

He said: “When I tried calling my mother-in-law she wouldn’t pick up so I just kept working and I thought could explain myself later. Later when it was time to go home I drove to the hospital but my mother-in-law and her sisters refused to let me in the room and called me names like ‘a bad father and a bad husband.’ When it was finally time to leave the hospital my wife and newborn baby went home with my mother-in-law and they haven’t spoken to me in days even when I try and apologize and explain myself.”

The husband finished the post by stating he thought he was doing the “right thing,” but other users strongly disagree.

The top comment has received over 29,000 likes, it said: “Here’s a news flash; lots of restaurants need staff. You should have gotten out from under your father’s thumb a long time ago before it affected your wife and child. I’d say more, but I don’t want to hold you up because you have much groveling. A LOT.”

Another said: “Adding to it, who would want to work for an abusive boss? No wonder they are understaffed too.”

Another user said: “Original poster needs to understand his power in this relationship. A) His dad isn’t going to fire him if he’s understaffed and B) If he does fire him, all the better, there are a million restaurants that would hire him right now, so unless his dad is paying him 6 figures, which I doubt… so be it, get fired! C) OP shouldn’t be in a position to get fired because he should have quite his Dad’s restaurant ages ago and found a new job working for someone who isn’t an AH.

“But also—can we talk about MIL refusing to let OP in? Has OP spoken to his wife? Is there a chance his wife wants to see him right now and MIL has her own reasons for blocking OP and making this whole situation worse? Both families sound like AH, and OP and his wife need to stop letting their families control their lives!”

Newsweek reached out to u/Alfredd6 for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.