Wrongful termination

[3westiebabies]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA. Husband is a truck driver and has ADHD. His place of employment knew this. They even took him off the road once until they got a letter from our doctor stating that the medication he takes would not effect his driving. Over the months they have complained that he takes too long to deliver his deliveries. Jim would always apologize, try to explain that sometimes wiht ADHD you aren't as speedy as those without it. In January I was diagnosed with lung cancer. My husband appllied for and was approved for family medical leave. He didn't take it all at once but a day or two here and a day there as needed. A few weeks ago he was fired. Their first excuse was that he had taken lunch. They claimed he was 'stealing time' from work. First thing he did was apply for uemployment. When nothing came in he called
unemployment and was told that his ex company was fighting his getting unemployment. They claim he missed too much time. On the day that he was fired my husband reminded his boss that he's got ADHD and how things take him longer. Immediately they said they have no record of the ADHD. Fearing something us up Jim reminded them of his family medical leave and again, they claimed there was no proof of that either. We have a copy of the approval letter somewhere around here. Anyway, he has no job, he has no unemployment, we lost our insurance (and with cancer that's not good). But, without a paycheck or unemployment I can't afford to pay COBRA. THere's got to be something that can be done.

 

[3westiebabies]

Is there no answer to this horrible situation?

 

[cbg]

Even under the ADA, the employer is not required to accept substandard work or the employee working more slowly than a non-disabled employee, unless such a provision was EXPLICITLY provided for in an accomodation.

If he believes that he is being fired SOLELY because he has ADHD (as opposed to poor performance, which is NOT protected under the law) he is free to file a complaint with the EEOC. He is also free to file any complaints of FMLA violation with the US DOL.

 

[3westiebabies]

Actually his ADHD is not the issue. It's the fact that he was approved for FML and then fired for taking it. I suppose this could be our fault because we didn't look to see how much time they gave him but we were under the impression that 12 weeks was the norm. We didn't realize that they could chose an amount of time for him. So, he took a day here a day there thinking this was what had been approved and then they fired him and now they're fighting with Unemployment saying that he doesn't deserve it because he 'refused to come into work'. It's a mess!

 

[ecmst12]

You should both appeal the unemployment denial, and contact the US DOL regarding the FMLA violation.

 

[3westiebabies]

But can we fight the FML when they had it right on the paperwork that they gave him 3 days off? He did sign it after all even though we didn't think to look for the lenth of time. Like I said, we just assumed that 12 weeks was 12 weeks. My husband even wrote on the bottom of the form "Consideration needs to be given for individual days that need to be taken off. " And they signed off on it. We knew from the beginning that he wouldn't be taking the full 12 weeks all at one time. And he didn't. As for the unemployment, it seems to me that if they read that his company only gave him 3 days of FML they should know that this is not right. That he's entitled to more. So why would they even consider turning him down for not showing up for work.

 

[cbg]

He is also free to file any complaints of FMLA violation with the US DOL.

You should both appeal the unemployment denial, and contact the US DOL regarding the FMLA violation.

How many more times do you need to be told how to "fight" the FMLA violation?