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Fired while I was sick

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trillstill

Junior Member
Oakland, California, United States of America

I was fired sometime when I was sick for 3 months. When I came back to work with my doctors note that excused me for the exact amount of time I was sick, I was told by my manager that he thought I had gotten a new job, and that his boss terminated me out of the computer system. What can I do? can I sue?
 


cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Outside of FMLA, a doctor's note has no force in law. A doctor "excusing" you from work provides no legal protection unless you, the employer, and the medical condition all qualify for FMLA. Outside of FMLA, an employer may give as much or as little weight to a doctor's note as he chooses, including throwing it in the wastebasket and ignoring it altogether.

And within FMLA, the maximum time your job has to be held for you is 12 weeks. If you exceeded that, even if you returned to work on week 13, day 2, it was legal to fire you. So even with a three month absence, even if FMLA applied (and we don't know from what you posted if it was or not) depending on EXACTLY how many days you were out, you could legally have been fired.
 

trillstill

Junior Member
Well I did contact all my supervisors because my illness had gotten worse while at work so I began work at 8 am, and came back at around lunch 12pm(I am a driver for autozone) and notified all the supervisors that I was very sick and I couldn't continue work. They all agreed and I went to the doctor to find out what was wrong with me.

Does me notifying them that I couldn't continue working since I was sick constitute as FMLA?

Thank you for the swift replies.
 
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cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
No. FMLA does not come into being because of how or when you notify them. FMLA is a form of protected medical leave that is available to qualified employees of qualified employers who have a qualified illness. It is provided under Federal law.

For FMLA to apply, ALL of the following must be true:

1.) The employee has worked for this employer for no less than 12 months
2.) The employer must have a minimum of 50 employees within a 75 mile radius of the employee's location
3.) In the 12 months immediately preceding his leave, the employee must have worked no less than 1,250 hours for this employer
4.) The employee or a qualified dependent/beneficiary must have a serious medical condition as defined in the FMLA statute.

If even one of these criteria is not met, FMLA does not apply.

IF FMLA applies, then you have up to 12 weeks off with your job protected. If you return to work on or before week 13, day 1, then you cannot be fired BECAUSE OF THE ABSENCE (it is not a catch all get out of jail free card). If you return to work on or after week 13, day 2, then since you exceeded the 12 weeks, your job is no longer protected and you can be legally fired.

If all of the four criteria above are not met and FMLA does not apply, then you do not have any job protection for the absence and you can legally be fired for it even if you have a dozen doctor's notes "excusing" you from work.
 

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