On disability and was Terminated

[km3000]

What is the name of your state? California
My superior suggested going on a personal leave of absence after going thru a stressful experience for several months and being threatened by my boss. My boss had said something stupid, the day after we closed a major deal with a company to buy 55% of our stock and it had not been disclosed in the due diligence. I (as the CPA), and after consulting with 2 superiors, felt I had an obligation to let the Chairman and President know about this $1.5m issue that had not been disclosed. My boss was angry and told me off. (I was ready to quit.)
I agreed and continued working with my coworkers and answering questions from my staff while at home. The superior was "going to straighten things out for me and had asked if I would be willing to transfer to another position where I was wanted and needed." I agreed that would be a good solution. He was the top manager right below the Chairman and President - a higher level than my boss.
While on the 4 day leave of absence, I went to my doctor who put me on disability for several reasons. The next week, 10 days later, I received a nasty letter from my boss, saying I quit with my last check. I did not quit or give a letter of any sort. I have documentation for all of this and would like advice on what to do. There are a few more circumstances that occurred that might be relevant, but these are the main issues. Thank you, Kathleen

 

[Beth3]

And have you contacted your boss's boss, the President and the Chairman to discuss your termination?

 

[km3000]

Reply to Terminated while on disability

Our company uses an HR outsourcing company for any human resources issues. After I received the letter from my boss, I did not contact anyone at the company. It is the proper course, if we have employment issues, to go directly to the HR outsourcing company. (The company is Gevity.) I contacted them right away and have spoken with them and sent them documentation. They were supposed to contact the company and work to resolve my issue. They were supposed to get back to me this week, but I have not heard from them. From my conversation with them, they thought my termination was done incorrectly and asked what I wanted "out of this" to resolve the problem. I have no idea what to ask for - severance, lay-off package or reinstatement (which at this time, after the way I was treated, may not be the best.)
A problem I had with both the Chairman and President. They were doing unethical things during the year and, as part of my job to approve all expense reports, I questioned their expenses and made them get approval from each other. They did not like my questioning their expenses, especially when I knew they were not related to business. They also did not report certain things to the IRS, which I told them was illegal and they didn't like me telling them that and refused to report after my recommendation.

 

[Beachguy3b]

Do you think this HR company actually can accomplish anything? Did you work very closely with HR when you worked there?

 

[km3000]

The company just hired the HR firm at the beginning of 2008. I was also the HR manager as well as the Controller. All our employees came to me with the HR issues and, prior to 2008, I helped the employees with their issues.

This is the first time the HR firm will be dealing with any issue. I'm sure, since they are hired by the company, they will try to look at the issue from the company's perspective. However, if the company has violated employment laws, they should advise them so the company is not subject to a lawsuit. So far, the HR firm has been very slow to respond and has made commitments and has not come through.

 

[Beachguy3b]

KM3000, I'm surprised there's been no feedback here. I've used this site for a good while, and always get a great reply and response.

Don't you have any labor law attorneys in your town? I mean, come on! You're in California! Isn't that the litigation capitol of the world?

 

[ecmst12]

Did you and your company qualify for FMLA, and did you request FMLA leave for this "disability"? Was your employer aware that your leave of absence had become a MEDICAL leave?

 

[km3000]

Our company does not qualify for FMLA due to the small number of employees. (Just 47 at the time.) I called the Chairman's daughter (who was the Administrative Assistant for our headquarters office and took care of HR issues for that office) and told her I was out on medical leave. She was a bit irritated because there was a dinner meeting scheduled 2 days later and I was supposed to attend. I don't think she was knowledgable enough to focus on the medical leave, but was thinking she would have to change reservations for the dinner meeting. I was in charge of HR at our site location, so I called the next HR contact.

 

[ecmst12]

California has its own version of FMLA, did your company fall under that? If not, you may be out of luck. Absent FMLA or similar state level protection, your company is free to legally fire you for being out on medical or non-medical leave.

 

[las365]

You should have a consultation with an experienced employment lawyer immediately to review your situation and find out what your legal options are. It will probably cost you a consultaiton fee. It will be worth it.

 

[km3000]

Perhaps I was not clear in my post. They did not fire me. They said I quit. I never quit, submit a resignation letter or told anyone I was quitting. I jwas out on a medical leave of absence and received my last check with a letter saying I resigned.

 

[las365]

They suspended you (called it a leave of absence) after you refused to keep quiet about an illegal act and and then fired you by claiming you quit. You need some legal advice from an experienced employment law attorney in your area.