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ADA Settle or Sue?

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LoveYa!

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Ohio

My former employer and I fall under the corresponding requirements set forth in the ADA. I have typed this three times already, so I’ll try to make this brief. I can provide further details if needed.

On July 20th I gave my two weeks notice. On July 28th I was ill due to my disability. I called my supervisor, told her that I was going to the doctor, and I would be in to work afterwards. She said I would be terminated. I informed her that company policy states employees are allowed 7 tardies in a rolling 6 month period, and I should not be terminated. She said she needed to talk to her supervisor. She called back at 8:36am and stated I needed to be in before the tardy cutoff time – which was 8:36am – or I would be fired. I called her back and left a message, since she did not answer her phone. She never returned my call. I called her several times every few minutes, leaving messages, with no response.

After going to the doctor, I returned home to see if she had called. She had not, so I called her supervisor. He said that he needed to talk to her and get her side of the story. He called back, stated that she claimed I had not called in, no one knew why I didn’t show up for work, and that my employment was terminated.

A few days later I wrote an email to the HR department explaining the situation. They have now decided to give me the wages that I lost. I have read the EEOC website and am wondering about the following two statements. At http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/chargesfiled.html#if my company under the question If my company is found to have violated the law, what could happen? it states that I can seek money other than wages. But at http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/ada18.html under What Do I Do If I Think That I'm Being Discriminated Against? it says, “If you have been discriminated against, you are entitled to a remedy that will place you in the position you would have been in if the discrimination had never occurred.”

So should I accept the check for my lost wages and forget about it? Or can I sue for more?

Thank you for reading this long post and taking the time to help me. :)
 


cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
I very much doubt that you have a claim under the ADA or any other law. It is very, very common for employers to refuse to allow paid time off of any kind after an employee has given notice. The ADA does not say that you cannot be refused time off. Nothing in your post suggests that your disability had anything to do with the company's decision. Unless you had an already established accomodation which allowed you to take time off for doctor's appointments without notice, or unless you had been granted intermittant FMLA for your condition (in which case the EEOC is the wrong regulatory agency as they do not administrate FMLA) I don't see that the employer violated any laws.

Take the money and run. You lucked out in being offered anything at all.
 

LoveYa!

Junior Member
Dr note

They were given a note from my doctor that I had a serious on going condition that could reoccur and require treatment at any time. Would that count?
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
No. A doctor's note has no force in law. As I said above, the ADA does NOT require that they give you time off at will unless you have an already agreed to accomodation to that effect.

It MIGHT, depending on the exact circumstances, be enough for FMLA, but we have not established that FMLA even applies, and even if it does, FMLA is unpaid time, so you might not want to go that route.
 

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