can i be fired for being sick too much

[aajwc333]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? florida
I work for a fortune 500. I have missed quite a bit of work because of a long term illness. I spoke with my supervisor today and she said there is nothing she can do about this process. I am pretty sure she is the one initiating the termination. Tomorrow, I am going to meet with the equal employment opportunity commission regarding this matter. Am I on the right track?

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

How long have you worked for this company?

 

[cbg]

If you have missed more than 12 weeks in a 12 month period, then regardless of the answer to the above question you can legally be fired. Barring a state law saying otherwise, which Florida does NOT have, the maximum length of time the employer is required to hold your job is 12 weeks unless you have a legally binding contract or CBA that expressly grants you additional time.

If you have missed less than 12 weeks, then in order to accurately answer your question we need to know not only how long you have worked for this employer, but also how many employees the employer has within 75 miles of your location, and whether or not you have worked 1,250 hours in the last 12 months.

 

[pattytx]

And what do you think the EEOC has to do with this? You have not posted any information that would lead us to believe there may have been illegal discrimination.

 

[commentator]

If you are now released by your doctor to be back at work on full duty, and you are now being terminated, you can sign up at once for your unemployment insurance. If you are considered too ill to seek other employment,you will not be able to draw benefits until you are released by the doctor.

In any case, as soon as you are laid off, let go, terminated, whatever, you need to FILE for unemployment benefits immediately, regardless of your health status. That way, if you are better any time during the next year, you will have the wages in place to draw an unemployment claim.

If you wait to sign up until you are fully released to work, the wages may have gone away with the changing quarters until you have no wages to count to set up an unemployment claim. So file a claim right now, regardless of your health situation, or whether you are filing an EEOC or ADA grievance of some type. It's a cinch you won't get your job back, so you'll need unemployment until you find another job.

Though you are being terminated, if you have a doctor's statement for your illness, documentation of the medical reason you had to be out, it will enable you to qualify for unemployment, though it cannot save you from being terminated.

 

[pattytx]

All that being said, we still need the answers to cbg's questions.

 

[cbg]

Agreed. The way to go MAY be the EEOC; it may be the US DOL; or there may not be any claim to begin with. We don't have enough information yet to say.

It is not inherently illegal to fire someone for excessive absences. There are some situations where it may be. Without the answers to the questions I asked above, we can't even begin to judge if this is one of the exceptions or not.