Fired due to Miscarriage & Lying by Supervisor

[NannonMS]

What is the name of your state? Arizona

I'm gonna try and explain this so it isn't too confusing. First, to set it up, the director of the school that i worked for was away during the week before I was fired which left my supervisor the only one in charge.

Through the military, I would have to attend an OB orientation before seeing a doctor which, on January 5th, I scheduled for the 28th of January which would put me at about 13 weeks along. I let my supervisor know immediately about the my OB Orientation appointment and she said that was no problem and to put a sticky note up on the calendar (which I did two different times).

I attended my OB orientation on the 28th, it lasted so long that I called and asked my supervisor if I could just take the last hour or two off instead of adding in an hours worth of commute time and she said that would be no problem.

However, early on the 29th I started having problems. I went into work at my usual time of 8 (i worked 8-5) and got a hold of a nurse at the hospital I went to for my OB Orientation. They told me they wanted me in for an exam IMMEDIATELY. With that I went up to my supervisor and let her know of the situation and she said that would be no problem. I found out I would more than likely miscarry. I called from home and let my supervisor that I wouldn't be in that afternoon and what was going on. I went to work again Friday morning, started having the problems again but worse than before and had a hard time just getting through the morning so I asked my Supervisor if I could leave for the afternoon, which I left between 11:00 - 11:30. On Monday, I returned for work, was told not to bother clocking in by the director and I asked my supervisor why and she said it was cause I took too much time off and I hadn't passed my 90 days yet to take time off.

I filed for unemployment right after being fired and today received a call asking for more information about the situation. They said that the director told them that I "No-called No-Showed" on the 28th and that I only worked for 2 hours on the 29th and it sounded like they said that I just left without saying anything and that was why I was fired. Today after speaking to the unemployment office, I called the director and asked him about this and if he knew that I had let my supervisor know everything that was going on and for my appointments. He said he didn't know.

Legally, is there anything I can do about this? I put them down as being able to be reached by prospective employers and having them say this about me is detrimental to finding a position, especially since I have NEVER had any problems with previous employers. Is being fired for a medical condition legal? Is making a false report legal?

I'm curious if there is anything I can do about this as it makes me look bad and I can't stand getting fired for something I can't help.

 

[cbg]

Am I understanding you correctly that you had been employed with the company for less than 90 days?

 

[NannonMS]

Yes, My 90 day mark was going to be the 21st of february.

 

[cbg]

Since you had been with the company for less than 12 months, you had no legal entitlement to any protected leave, no matter how legitimate the medical reason. It was therefore legal for them to fire you. The fact that you were out for a medical reason does not mean anything in this case.

IF unemployment benefits are declined, you will have the right to appeal the decision. There will be a hearing where you can present your side of the story, including the fact that you did in fact call in. At this point, there is absolutely NO reason to believe that anyone made a "false" statement; it's entirely possible that the supervisor did NOT inform the director that you called in and anything he said, he honestly believed to be true (even though he was mistaken). People are allowed to make mistakes. There'll be time enough to correct the record when you know for sure that there's even a problem. This wouldn't be anywhere near the first time that the right hand didn't know what the left hand was doing.

IF at any time in the future they are called for a reference AND they tell someone that you were a no-call, no-show AND you can directly tie your failing to get the job with that statement, then you MAY be able to take legal action. However, if they are called for a reference and they say you were fired for attendance problems, that is true and you will have no course of action regardless. And before you say anything, yes, I understand that you had no option about missing work; the fact remains that any absences, no matter how legitimate, in the first 90 days of work can be considered an attendance problem.

 

[NannonMS]

Thank you, I appreciate your response. I figured that since I hadn't completed the 90 day mark yet that there really isn't anything that I can do about it. Thought I'd check though just to make sure.

Again, Thanks
Rhiannon

 

[cbg]

Just to clarify, the 90-day mark is meaningless in this case. It's the one-year mark that would have counted.

 

[NannonMS]

May I ask why it would be a one year mark instead of the 90 day? I haven't heard of anything like that before. Thank you very much for your time.

--Rhiannon

 

[cbg]

Because you do not become eligible for guaranteed, protected medical leave until you have been with the company for a minimum of 12 months. If, at any time in the first 364 days you were employed, you missed any time at work, they can legally count it against you no matter how legitimate the medical reason. Once you have been with the company for one year, then IF the condition qualifies (and a miscarriage would) then they HAVE to protect your job and cannot hold the leave against you as long as you return to work within 12 weeks. (After 12 weeks, all bets are off.) But employees who have been with the company for less than a year have no guarantee of continued employment no matter how real and legitimate the medical concern. BTW, this assumes that the company has more than 50 employees. If they have less than 50 employees within a 75 mile radius, then the employee NEVER has protected leave no matter how long they work, unless their state law provides it. (Some do - I'm not in my office so I can't check if Arizona does.)

Legally, there is NO significance to the first 90 days, despite a widespread belief that there is. Many companies use that as a"probationary" period but that is company policy, not law. In addition, it's usually a good predicator of attendance issues, thus the last sentence in my post above. But as far as the LAW goes, there is nothing different in your employment status on day 91 than was there on day 89.

 

[NannonMS]

Thank you for clarifying that for me. I appreciate it. Thank you for your time.

Rhiannon