can i file a lawsuit?

[emilyabe]

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

I had been laid off and came back to work only to find out 2 days later they needed a return to work slip from my doctor. (had an emergency surgery while laid off) My doctor would not allow me to get one so i called my employer, which is through a union, and informed them of such and asked what i should do. The man said that he would have my supervisor or someone from HR contact me the next day or so. I never recieved a phone call back and tried to make contact but was unable to. A week or so later i recieve information regarding enrollment for Cobra insurance only to find out they fired me!!! Is there anything i can do?

 

[Zigner]

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

I had been laid off and came back to work only to find out 2 days later they needed a return to work slip from my doctor. (had an emergency surgery while laid off) My doctor would not allow me to get one so i called my employer, which is through a union, and informed them of such and asked what i should do. The man said that he would have my supervisor or someone from HR contact me the next day or so. I never recieved a phone call back and tried to make contact but was unable to. A week or so later i recieve information regarding enrollment for Cobra insurance only to find out they fired me!!! Is there anything i can do?

File for unemployment and polish up your resume.
You can also, apparently, file for COBRA benefits.

 

[emilyabe]

the thing is, i do already have a new job. but the cobra is outrageously priced. I think that it was wrong on their behalf to have fired me without contacting me back to inform me what i should do whether it be part term disability or whatever they would have wanted me to do. This isnt the first time that there has been issues regarding this employer screwing things up.

 

[Beth3]

I don't understand something. Did your doctor refuse to provide a "return to work" authorization because he didn't think you were sufficiently recovered from the surgery yet?

 

[emilyabe]

My doctor wouldn't allow me to because I still had an open wound in my abdomen that i had to pack with gauze daily. I was working for UPS (might be useful to know for advice)

 

[Willlyjo]

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

I had been laid off and came back to work only to find out 2 days later they needed a return to work slip from my doctor. (had an emergency surgery while laid off) My doctor would not allow me to get one so i called my employer, which is through a union, and informed them of such and asked what i should do. The man said that he would have my supervisor or someone from HR contact me the next day or so. I never recieved a phone call back and tried to make contact but was unable to. A week or so later i recieve information regarding enrollment for Cobra insurance only to find out they fired me!!! Is there anything i can do?

So you tried to go back to work even though you were still under a doctor's care? AND...they fire you a week later when you explained the doctor wouldn't give you a return to work slip?

Don't you know that you are entitled to disability? Perhaps you were entitled to FLMA leave as well.

You need to talk to a lawyer about this because the company you worked for may have overstepped legal boundaries for terminating you while you are under a doctor's care.

 

[cbg]

Just for clarification because Willyjo has been known to drastically overstate the point:

There is no Federal law and no law in any state that says you cannot be fired while you are under a doctor's care. Period. I'd invite Willyjo to post the law that says otherwise but we already know that Willyjo is never willing to put his money where his mouth is. In any case, he won't be able to post such a law because no such law exists.

Before we get into the issue of FMLA, which may or may not be applicable, I want to be sure we're all on the same page with regards to some phrases that tend to be misused:

When you say you were laid off, you are talking about a temporary separation from work? That you would not have been working regardless of whether you had the surgery or not? This was not a medical leave that you/your doctor initiated, but a work slow- or shutdown that was employer initiated, and you took the opportunity/were coincidentally required to have a medical procedure done during the time you were off work?

I WILL have additional questions, but let's clarify this point first.

 

[pattytx]

In addition, Illinois does not have a state disability program. In order for disability benefits to even be a consideration, the employee would have to already have either purchased a policy on their own, or have enrolled in the company-sponsored plan, if there even is one.

 

[Beth3]

My doctor wouldn't allow me to because I still had an open wound in my abdomen that i had to pack with gauze daily. I was working for UPS (might be useful to know for advice)

OK - so you returned to work when you shouldn't have, failed to provide any information from your doctor regarding your ability to return to work or your medical status, made an incredibly weak effort to contact your employer, and never followed up. From your employer's viewpoint, you simply disappeared. A week later, they fired you. Not a big surprise and not illegal.

There was nothing illegal about terminating you while under doctor's care, despite WillyJoe's assertions. Among other reasons, your employer didn't even KNOW you were still under a doctor's care. All they knew is that they sent you home pending information from your doctor and they basically never heard from you again. That's why they fired you.

 

[commentator]

There are also very complicated issues here in regard to getting on unemployment insurance...even if you have been drawing while you were, as you said, laid off. Because you were not called back by your employer, and you were probably considered job attached, you might have been okay drawing the unemployment during the time of your surgery...until you were recalled, a complicated question that will have to be settled by the state unemployment service.

Each week you file for unemployment, they do ask if you are able and available. Any reason why you cannot accept a job right now? What did you say? Did you stop your claim during this time?

At the time your employer called you back to work and you were NOT supposed to return to work because you were not released by your doctor...at that point you would have been stopped from your unemployment claim immediately, if you were drawing it. The employer would have demanded it. I know nothing about FMLA or what that would have entailed.

As patti said, Illinois has no state disability. There is no federal short term disablity program. Unemployment is not for those on medical leave.

Of course the employer, especially one that has strenuous work like UPS, does not want you back on the job until fully released by your doctor. That you came back, deceiving them about your medical condition, was a dandy reason for them to terminate you. What if you had fallen over, that first day back, clutched your side, and died? The company might have had liability.
Then you did not recontact them again for a week, which further gave thim an excellent excuse to fire you.

Now you may try to reopen your unemployment claim and find that you are going to be denied based on this termination. File, anyway, but don't be surprised if your situation (returning to work while still under doctor's care) is going to be disqualifying. So it's dandy that you have another job to go to. Hope you will be medically able to begin it. Open wounds you're having to pack with gauze every day doesn't sound too healthy and ready to work to me.