[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

What is the bar for mental health leave then? Insinuating the Flames merely rubber stamped a request for a mental health leave seems extremely naive. Just about any employer would be entitled to a legitimate explanation for a variety of reasons from whether it is a workplace matter or something entirely unrelated.

We just don't know, and assuming this was just "rubber stamped" is a totally unsubstantiated opinion. It seems pretty likely to me that Dube was able to provide necessary documentation for whatever mental health struggles he has been enduring in the moment, and he was also probably never under any sort of obligation to disclose to his employer that this all stemmed from anxiety about facing impending criminal charges.

Something like this should certainly be classified as an indefinite leave of absence, similar to Lucic - who you could certainly argue is probably in the ballpark of a mental health leave situation as well. The primary issue however is legal, so that should trump everything else in my mind.

I am pretty sure that Lucic was charged first, before he had been granted a lead of absence. Dube has not yet been charged with anything.

Calling this a mental health thing first and foremost is an injustice to people that are legitimately leveraging this for situations like Kylington.

I disagree. It's a problem for people who are prone to read things into situations and public statements that are not there, and without any of the requisite facts required for making such judgments. But, let's say—for the sake of argument—that Dube approaches the Flames and says he needs to take a step away from the game, and requests a leave of absence. Their first question is going to be "Why?" Let's then say that he says he is struggling with his mental health; that there are signs of this in his play and demeanour off the ice, and that he has documentation to support it.

In this situation, what are the Flames obligated to do? Is it incumbent upon them to probe further about the source of Dube's emotional and psychological struggles, or is this a matter between him and his doctors? Let's say the Flames are suspicious that charges might be coming because they have heard rumours about this. Is it their prerogative to ask Dube about this? What if they ask, and he denies it? What if his agent wrote the public statement himself and instructed the team that this is what he and his client wanted to be disclosed?

There are a hundred reasons why the Flames released the statement they did, and not the one you think they should have. Again, without knowing all the facts, this is an incredibly trivial thing about which to complain.