Fired after being in hospital for heart problems

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? FL


Ok, of course a little more to that story.
I lived in Lousiana, but took a job in Florida two months ago.
Got an apartment and set up life there. My wife and kids
stayed behind because my wife broke her hip and leg running
a half marathon (long story). Anyway, they stayed behind
as wife's mother was helping her and we decided not to take kids
out of school.....ok-too many details I know.

I passed out at work and was sent to the er via ambulance/911. I
was diagnosed with bronchitis and reflux because I couldn't breath and
was spitting up stuff. To make a long story short...I didn't know it at that
time, but I was in complete congestive heart failure A few days went
by and I was still sick. I decided to drive home over the weekend so
my family could help me as I was getting sicker and sicker.

I saw a internist and he sent me to a cardiologist. They diagnosed me with
congestive heart failur from cardiomyopathy (a weakening of the heart
muscle...typically don't know the cause-thought to frequently be caused by a virus). Just came out of the blue unexpectedly. I am 43 yrs old and have no history of heart disease and no clogges arteries,etc. I was hospitalized for 4 days.

The day after I got out of hospital I was fired from my job for not being able to perform my duties. I had only been there 2 months so I am not eligible for FMLA or even
disability. I am just straight fired and will have no income and no health ins at the end of the month. (I know I have cobra elective, but my gosh have you ever seen the price of cobra?).

I don't know if Florida is an At-will state or not or if that even matters. I wanted to try to
go back to work to take care of my family, but my doctor would not clear me. I cannot perform my duties because I am ill. I am not in a position to get another job at this time due t my health. My wife (age 41) has a broken hip and fractured leg and is in a wheelchair for the time being. Not sure how easy it would be for her to get a job..and if someone did hire her, it would be a small fraction of my salary. Social security disability has been mentioned, but I have heard it takes years to get. It is possible that I will recover and be able to work and lord knows I cannot wait years to have an income!!!

I do not know employment laws in Florida. I am just tired of people constantly saying to me....oh my gosh....is that legal? So, any legal advice would be appreciated!!! Please be nice to me!

I'm sorry, but you are correct that you are not eligible for FMLA leave which, even if you were, is unpaid. Your situation is exactly why people buy disability insurance.

FMLA is the only law that would prevent them from firing you, so if you don't qualify for that, then being sick does not give you any job protection.

With your situation, you should qualify for medicaid, look into applying for it as soon as possible. And the medicaid office may be able to advise you about SSDI as well.

If you recover relatively quickly, and you have enough weeks of employment in the past year, you can apply for unemployment benefits as soon as your doctor releases you to go back to work. You can't qualify for UC as long as you are disabled though.

To clarify, the only state that is not at least nominally at-will is Montana, and in these specific circumstances even in Montana the at-will doctrine would be in effect.