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Terminated 2 months after returning from FMLA

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EricaCh

Guest
What is the name of your state? What is the name of your state? CA:mad:

I am laid off 2 months after returning from maternity leave. During my leave, my responsibilities were passed to my collegues. When I returned, I received the same pay but did not perform the same job functions. Now, I am told that my job is being eliminated. I thought the FMLA protects the employee a job up to one year.

Do I have have a valid claim?

Thanks
 


Beth3

Senior Member
There is nothing in the federal FMLA that says employees on leave are protected for any specific length of time, nor does the FMLA state that an employee on or recently on FMLA can't be laid off.

The issue is whether you would have been laid off IN SPITE OF taking FMLA. Absent changes that would have occured even if an employee hadn't taken leave (such as a layoff, plant closing, job elimination, etc.), the employer must return the individual to their previous job or one of equal stature and pay. Please note, they aren't obligated to return you to the exact same job, just one of "equal stature," assuming business conditions haven't altered sufficiently to make that impossible even if your leave had not occurred.

If they subsequently discovered the job you were in was no longer required and/or business conditions dictated some employees had to be cut and you were selected regardless of your recent leave, that is not illegal and does not violate the FMLA.
 

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