What to do if my wife’s employer wrote her up for being sick for 2 days but it is a chronic condition which she has had and is unable to work when it comes on?
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What to do if my wife’s employer wrote her up for being sick for 2 days but it is a chronic condition which she has had and is unable to work when it comes on?
She works for a national bank. It refused to see her doctor’s note and some of her co-workers and a manager made fun of her for it. She saw that the company offers protection for missing days from her illness but the managers didn’t tell her about it and said their was nothing they can do and if she misses again for it she will be fired. My wife feels intimidated and discriminated against for their refusal to observe her illness, it may violate the FMLA, and she feels harassed and intimidated for their making fun of her illness. This is in a nutshell, based on this info can we sue them?
Asked on March 29, 2013 under Employment Labor Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
You should speak with an employment law attorney. It is not clear that FMLA would offer much help--among other things, it only covers days out for medical treatment or being under a doctor's care (not simply for being "sick") and has some other limitations which limit its applicability to chronic conditions. That said, you need someone knowledgeable to review your wife's condition in detail against the law, to see what protection it does offer. Also, if your wife's condition is a chronic one, it may possibly be considered a "disability"; if it is, then the employer may not harass her on the basis of it, and must also make reasonable accomodations to her medical needs. Therefore, you also want knowledgable counsel to evaluate whether your wife's condition would qualify as a disability, since if it does, that may offer her expanded protection. Good luck.
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