That resonates a lot with me. A few years back my manager in a big-co with a lofty motto would not allow me to work remotely for a week or two to stay closer to my dying parent. As she pointed out, "a lot of innovation happens at the watercooler".
Innovation == Talking about what we did that weekend? :)
This was cruel and there is no excuse why in 2016 this arrangement couldn't work for a week or two.
As a remote member of a mostly onsite team there is some validity that you miss out on the SOCIAL aspects of work (grabbing lunch, hanging out after work from time to time, etc) but the "innovation" on our team is just fine.
You should've quit on the spot. "Jobs come and go, but I only have one/two parents who deserve better, etc. Bye." She would've relented and let you go. I've called this bluff several times in my career and I've never lost.
But of course, you don't want to work for someone like that in the first place, if you can help it.
My outlook on life has improved since I recognized that we're in an industry and a time that allows us to re-phrase requests like "I'd like to work remotely for a while to be near my parents in a time of need, please" as a statement of fact: "I'm going to work remotely for a while to be near my parents in a time of need" and simply ignore any attempt to contradict it.
This won't last forever—enjoy it while you can. Say no early, say no often!
It was my first 'real' job and the company was (and still is) considered extremely prestigious in our line of work. So for a junior engineer quitting that job was suboptimal at that stage. I ended up going without permission. Contrary to my expectations I wasn't fired. But was never promoted again, either - no matter how hard I would work for it.
It would have been very easy to explain in interviews however. "They wouldn't let me spend two weeks with my dying mother" is quite a valid reason for quitting a job in my opinion.
That's assuming you want to quit the job. But given the employer, the opportunity to learn a ton if I stayed and my low self-esteem at the time I wasn't overly eager to quit.
It's expected that you aren't going to be gumdrops and rainbows about your prior employer in an interview. The point of this rule is that you don't look like you're bitter or holding a grudge; if the new company thinks you create vendettas whenever there's a problem, they're going to want to stay away from you for fear that you'll be unfair to them if such a misunderstanding arises in the course of your employment with them (e.g., hurting their reputation in the marketplace, leaking source code because you're mad at your boss).
It'd be reasonable to say something like "We had different perspectives on the structure of the workplace and it just wasn't really what I was looking for". They'll probably ask "Oh, what was the issue?" and you'll say "I needed to work remotely to be at the bedside of an ailing parent and they said they'd fire me if I tried, so I quit".
You don't want to look like you're blaming them for making you miss your parents' final moments (we're grownups and take personal responsibility for things like that, don't allow people to stop you from participating in important life milestones), which is why it's a good idea to allow them to dig a little bit before getting at the real dispute. This is a good principle when discussing previous employers anyway. You always want to sound like you're over whatever the slight was, that you see and understand their perspective and don't blame them for having it, but simply don't agree with it. You won't be faulted for that.
That's a good rule of thumb for a variety of reasons, but this is a situation where I don't think it applies. (1) It's the truth, and it's the reason you're seeking a job, and any worthwhile employer would likely sympathize. (2) You've already burnt your bridge with the previous employer, so who cares?
