What is the name of your state? California.
I worked for a small, very "abusive" company over a year ago. My boss was the founders son and had an anger problem. He was never physically abusive, but yelled and belittled his subordinates on a routine basis and created an environment of fear for all. In one case his verbal abuse caused a women in the organization to have a nervous breakdown during a meeting. She stormed out of the meeting in tears and my boss thought that she wouldn't return to work, but somehow she managed to collect herself and continue. Basically, because she needed the money.
When my boss's sights eventually turned on me, I started to get anxious, fearful, have sleep and digestive problems and eventually went to see my doctor. The doctor referred me to a psychologist, who wrote me up for a leave of absence. My employer acknowledged by mail that I was eligible for FMLA, based on the documentation I submitted from my doctor, but within a week, my boss and his brother, who is a lawyer, contacted me and suggested that we implement a severance agreement. He also mentioned that if I agreed to this, I would get some additional severance pay and he would not dispute any unemployment insurance claim if I filed one.
I was a little disturbed by this at first, but decided it was best if I left that environment because my health meant more to me than that lousy job.
My question is, was my boss crossing the line by offerring me a severance agreement while I was on FMLA? My understanding is that your job cannot be terminated or threatened during this period. Is this somehting that I should have pursued through legal/filing a lawsuit? I realize that I have very little recourse at this time since I agreed to the terms, but it would have been nice to witness the humbling of my former boss.
Thanks in advance for you input.What is the name of your state?
I worked for a small, very "abusive" company over a year ago. My boss was the founders son and had an anger problem. He was never physically abusive, but yelled and belittled his subordinates on a routine basis and created an environment of fear for all. In one case his verbal abuse caused a women in the organization to have a nervous breakdown during a meeting. She stormed out of the meeting in tears and my boss thought that she wouldn't return to work, but somehow she managed to collect herself and continue. Basically, because she needed the money.
When my boss's sights eventually turned on me, I started to get anxious, fearful, have sleep and digestive problems and eventually went to see my doctor. The doctor referred me to a psychologist, who wrote me up for a leave of absence. My employer acknowledged by mail that I was eligible for FMLA, based on the documentation I submitted from my doctor, but within a week, my boss and his brother, who is a lawyer, contacted me and suggested that we implement a severance agreement. He also mentioned that if I agreed to this, I would get some additional severance pay and he would not dispute any unemployment insurance claim if I filed one.
I was a little disturbed by this at first, but decided it was best if I left that environment because my health meant more to me than that lousy job.
My question is, was my boss crossing the line by offerring me a severance agreement while I was on FMLA? My understanding is that your job cannot be terminated or threatened during this period. Is this somehting that I should have pursued through legal/filing a lawsuit? I realize that I have very little recourse at this time since I agreed to the terms, but it would have been nice to witness the humbling of my former boss.
Thanks in advance for you input.What is the name of your state?
