Help!

What is the name of your state?CT

In had a job related injury. I was put on short term disability for three months. I returned to work for a month and was re-injured. This time I was taken to the hospital via ambulance from my job. I was put back on short term disability and one day prior to the benefits being eshausted my employer fired me for "medical reasons". I was cleared by my physician to return to work without restrictions three weeks later. When I informed my employer that I could return to work I was given a letter that stated I was "terminated due to medical reasons", and the termination date was one month prior. I was never informed that I was fired. They even submitted papers for long term disability that are dated after my termination date. Is this legal?

Let's back up a bit.

Did your employer file either of these claims with their Worker's Compensation insurance carrier? If you're not sure, then tell us who has been paying for all your medical bills.

The first incident was not reported. My medical bills were paid through the group insurance the company had. The second incident was reported about a month after the hospitalization when I kept asking for compensation. According to the employer the workers comp. case was denied becasue it was a pre-exsting condition, based on the first time it happened. My doctor informed them that it was job related and it was still denied. Again my group insurance through work was paying the bills.

I suggest you consult with a worker's compensation or an employment law attorney. There is a significant amount of information that needs to be elicited from you and evaluated in order to determine whether your employer/the WC carrier appropriately denied your injury claims and lawfully terminated your employment.

BTW, just as an FYI, the maximum amount of medical leave an employer is required to offer you, at the Federal level, is 12 weeks in a 12 month period. At the state level in your state, the maximum length of time is 16 weeks in a two year period.

If this is/should have been a WC situation, then the maximums for FMLA may be irrelevant. It depends on each State's WC laws.

Granted, but few states provide unlimited leave time even in WC situations. In some states, mine being one, being on w/c doesn't entitle one to any addiitonal leave time but it does provide you with a guaranteed right of rehire. You know as well as I do that I'm no w/c expert, but I'm fairly strong on state laws and none of my famous charts suggest that additional leave is available in w/c cases in CT.

I was never offered FMLA. I was told that if my short term disability benefits ran out before I returned to work, they would file for long term disability. I was told to let them know, because it usually takes up to ten days.

FMLA isn't something you're offered in addition to whatever disability benefits your employer happens to have. If your employer is subject to the FMLA and you also meet the criteria, it allows you up to 12 weeks of leave time. If you were offered that much (or the 16 weeks within 2 years your State requires), then your employer's obligations have been met. It doesn't matter whether or not you were formally notified your leave time was being attributed to your FMLA entitlement.

It also doesn't matter if you were receiving disability benefits; FMLA can and does run concurrently with disability payments, not consecutively.

I understand that. But, I was not informed of my termination until I submitted the doctor's note stating I could return to work. Personnel told my that they were sorry, but they did not want the liability if something more serious were to happen to me.

Shari, you need to see an attorney. There are potentially some considerable legal complexities here that simply cannot be properly obtained nor addressed in a bulletin board Q&A format.

O.k. I will. Thank you for you input.