Employees who are fired due to the taking of a medical leave may have a wrongful termination case as well as potential violations of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Pregnancy Disability Leave, Disability Discrimination, or violations of Workers Compensation Rights. Our experienced medical leave lawyers will guide you onto the right path, and help you make a decision whether you want to sue your employer over your wrongful termination.
Employees suffering from medical conditions may also have sick leave rights. Sick leave rights depend on the amount of sick pay offered by the employer, but at a minimum are 3 sick days a year for full-time employees. It is possible more than one medical leave law applies to your case of a job termination. Besides the ability to sue for an unlawful job termination you may have rights to reinstatement at your previous job, or a comparable position.
Our experienced medical leave lawyers have tried many cases involving FMLA violations, pregnancy, and disability. Our actual courtroom and arbitration experiences are invaluable.
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TO FIND OUT IF YOU HAVE A FMLA/CFRA CASE
The California Family Rights Act (CFRA) provides greater protection than the Federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). California’s version of the FMLA applies to employees who:
In order to inflict CFRA/FMLA coverage, serious medical conditions may be less serious than a disability under the law. However, in order to qualify as a serious medical condition, the employee must have seen a healthcare provider 2 or more times for the condition. Healthcare providers include regular doctors (MDs), foot doctors, dentists, chiropractors, physical therapists, licensed mental healthcare providers such as psychologists, marriage and family counselors. In the case of ongoing serious medical conditions, the 2 or more appointments may have been over an extended period of time. For instance, an employee treating for gout may have treated the year before and then recently. In this example, gout is likely to be a disability and the employee has greater rights. Employees entitled to CFRA/FMLA coverage are only eligible for up to 12 weeks off in a period of one year. Employees with disabilities need reasonable accommodations, including time off for longer periods based on whether the period of disability and accommodation is an undue hardship to the employer. The undue hardship defense is a difficult one for employers to meet.
Family Medical Leave is the most basic form of a medical leave of absence from work. In the case of pregnancy leave, it is possible to stack pregnancy leave with CFRA leave and be off work for up to seven months. Employees with long term medical conditions may qualify as employees suffering from a disability and be entitled to longer leaves of absence. The same is true for employees suffering from cancer and genetic disorders. As experienced employee lawyers it is our job to utilize all appropriate leave laws when bringing your case for wrongful termination based upon your job termination.
Besides losing a job due to an extended medical leave employees may have a right to be reinstated. Employees who go out on CFRA/FMLA or pregnancy leave/maternity leave must be reinstated to a comparable position. Our FMLA lawyers can evaluate whether the position is comparable. Positions earning the same pay are most likely deemed comparable. Issues such as longer commutes, having to learn a new job, and positions that provide less of a chance of advance present challenges in the question whether the position is comparable.
Many people wonder what is needed when they make an initial call to an employment lawyer. When you call the Employment Lawyers Group at 661-412-9600 try to have the dates of your leave of absence. It is also important that you are able to explain your medical diagnosis, and exactly what you told your employer about it. If you have copies of your medical notes, it is a good idea to have them before you when you reach out to our medical family leave lawyers.
Fired over a medical issue? FMLA, disability, pregnancy, cancer. We are here to help without up front fees or costs. We've usually been winning since 1993! We are your FMLA Lawyer here for you if you are fired for a disability or because you took FMLA.
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