FMLA Violation?

[ingrid2010]

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

I am a Vice President at an organization, and I was recently out on maternity leave. While I was out, much work was done to investigate outsourcing most of my position.

While I was out on leave, my direct supervisor (a Sr. VP) informed me that our CEO was pushing him to outsource the majority of my job. The CEO decided that once done, I would work with the middle management team. The Sr. VP disagreed, but his opinion did not seem to matter. There was no discussion to officially change my title or salary, but I would be working at a level below what I do now.

The individual that I report to was in touch with me while I was on maternity leave to inform me that our CEO did not want to fill the open middle managment position within my department, and I needed to find a way to make it work. I did respond and came in for a meeting with the CEO during my leave to discuss how we can operate without a middle manager in my area. I agreed to make it work out of fear of losing my job. Upon my return, the management position that was not filled has been split between myself (taking on the middle managment responsiblities) and another indivdual (taking on the daily supervision of the department)

There is so much more to this story, but my question is: Is it legal to examine outsourcing and restructuring my position while I am out on maternity leave?

 

[ecmst12]

It is legal to do anything to your position while you are on leave that they would do if you were NOT on leave - including eliminate the position. As long as you are not being penalized BECAUSE you took the leave, its legal. And it certainly sounds like they were planning on making these changes regardless of your time off.

 

[ingrid2010]

Thanks very much for your reply. The interesting thing is that these discussions only took place because I was off. Outsourcing my area was never on the radar until I went out. If I did not go out on leave, the outsourcing vendors would not have been contacted. I was informed that the vendors were contacted to fill any short-term needs until I returned, but that blossomed into examining totally outsourcing my area. Is it arguable that this is a violation since these conversations only took place because I was on leave? There were never any thoughts or discussions about it before.

 

[ingrid2010]

One more interesting piece of information. I was informed that our CEO told my boss that he was concerned that I would become an " 8 to 4 employee now that I have a baby" which are my hours, but I tent to work a lot of late nights. My boss was very much opposed to what the CEO wanted to do, but the CEO cursed and yelled at him. My boss says he felt as if he was being bullied into doing something that he didn't think was best for our organization. My boss has since left the company, telling me what occurred, and informing me that this situation was a factor in his decision to leave.

 

[Beth3]

Sounds like you should file a complaint with the federal Department of Labor regarding the violation of your FMLA rights. You may also want to consult an employment law attorney.

Your employer may make any business changes that would have occurred regardless of your FMLA status but they cannot make changes that effect you adversely BECAUSE you took FMLA. Sounds like none of this would have happened if not for your FMLA. Good luck.