Fired for going into labor

[perryk79]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Virginia
Was fired because I left to go to the hospital 'cause I was feeling sick. I was 31 weeks pregnant. I ended up getting bed rest and actually gave birth 6 days later. I was in the hospital all this time. I did let the assistant manager know, but she did not tell the manager. I have a witness who saw me tell the assistant manger. My termination letter said she fired me because I abandoned my post with out telling anyone. What kind of legal action can I take?

 

[Beth3]

I did let the assistant manager know, but she did not tell the manager. I have a witness who saw me tell the assistant manger. Which I assume means you spoke with the assistant manager the day you left work early. Did you contact your employer on the subsequent days you were out and inform them of your status?

 

[Katy W.]

Pregnancy Discrimination Act

Beth's questions are important. However, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 states that an employer may not treat a pregnant woman or one who is disabled due to childbirth, etc, differently from the rest of their employees. So, if your employer would have fired another employee for job abandonment when the employee was hospitalized after the employee reported their condition to an assistant manager then they can legally terminate you. If, however, they would not have terminated an employee that, say, had a potentially life-threatening heart problem, had reported this to the assistant manager, and was hospitalized the whole time in question, and did not call in every day, they may not be able to lawfully term you for doing the same.

Unless you work for a huge company there probably hasn't been any other instances with your exact circumstances; this makes it hard for your employer to prove that other employees with other conditions would have been treated exactly as you were. However. the onus is on you to prove that you talked with the assistant manager to report your status. If your friend witnessed you talk to the assistant manager you need to document it. If the person you told was a bona fide supervisor then it should be considered the same as if you told the manager.

At any rate, my opinion is that your situation warrants you contacting the EEOC to see if they feel you may have a charge of discrimination. You may only have a few months to do this, so don't hesitate. Congratulations on your new baby.

 

[cbg]

Katy, who the employee told is immaterial. The question is, did she follow procedure for SUBSEQUENT days. She MAY be on firm ground for the initial absence. That doesn't mean she gets to ignore call-in procedures for the remaining time she is out.

We are a long, long way from having enough information to say the employee has ANY legal recourse, let alone a case with the EEOC.

 

[Katy W.]

company policy

Sorry if this is double posted.

Cbg, I agree that if the company has an attendance policy stating that calls are required daily, and this policy is consistently enforced OP's termination is most probably lawful. My limited experience, though, is that while almost every company has a policy that states it is necessary to call in every day, employers may not actually term employees who have a medical emergency and are hospitalized until they are on entended sick leave for not calling every day. As we all know, company policy usually is not a contract and the employer isn't bound by it. If other employees have had medical emergencies, were hospitalized, did not call in daily, and were not termed it may appear discriminatory to term the OP for her absence.

Anyway, I did NOT say the OP has legal recourse!! If it came out that way I worded it badly. I said she may want to contact the EEOC to see if they think this warrants investigation. In my (again, limited) experience the EEOC doesn't accept charges that are frivolous or those that would waste their time.

To reiterate, perryk79, I'm not saying you have a lawsuit, but the EEOC is the first step to further investigate this.

 

[HomeGuru]

Just another reason to join the labor union.

 

[Veronica1228]

Just another reason to join the labor union.

ba-dum-bum.

Thank you folks. HomeGuru will be here all week!!!