sick days with a Doctor note

[justalayman]

=Willlyjo;2733951]

First, I did tell the Op that she might have a case to contest her written warning based on the fact she did have a doctor's excuse.

Contest it? What makes you believe she would have a right to contest it, ever? She may be able to register an objection but has no legal right to contest it.

Now "case" for all intents and purposes meant (if you are capable of reading between the lines)

I try to stick to the lines with type on them.

that since the OP was written up by what it seems is a power driven, arrogant, "look what I can do" supervisor for not following a company policy, the possibility that higher ranking bosses WOULD allow exceptions such as going to the doctor at lunch time and calling in sick for the remainder of the shift, might exist.

and the problem with that is? A boss does have that prerogative.

Therefore, the Op might go over the supervisor's head and appeal to someone who has a more reasonable understanding of such a company policy, and get the written warning rescinded.

or get fired. Could go either way. I suspect since the "boss" was given their position for a reason and apparently the action taken falls within this boss's area of authority, it would be a bit improper for a higher authority to take any action.

I did give the Op the opinion that since such circumstance didn't happen too often, she should just keep a low profile and do her work and hopefully, the written warning will be expunged at a later date (perhaps 6 months down the line) as is the case in many work policies regarding the expungment of such warning slips.

or it could set there for the rest of time.

And also, as I mentioned in another post, there are circumstances in which an employee such as the Op can rebut an at-will status by showing an implied contract of employment that will not allow termination except for "just cause".

what is this OP going to rebut. She wasn't fired, merely written up.

This means that if the circumstances are right, being fired because you called in sick and produced a doctor's note proving you were sick would not be a "just cause" termination.

again, you take your quasi contract situation too far. It will never prevent a person from being fired for just cause which, failing to follow company policy would be included.

And finally for you Justalayman, I did say an employer cannot hold it against the Op for calling in sick and producing a doctor's note. By that I meant "rightfully" and "fairly"! You see, I'm an optimistic person-I look at the glass as half full instead of half empty unlike many sarcastic, ignorant, ego stroking entities I am amongst during some periods of my days.

Well, I don't worry about the glass being half full nor half empty. When it's empty, I get a refill. Until then, it's irrelevant.

but yes, an employer can hold it against an employee for calling in sick and even if producing a doctors note. You see, there is no law against it so they can do it. In fact, even federal law recognizes the right. Read about FMLA law. Once your 12 weeks are used up (for those eligible), no doctors note is going to do a damn thing for you. You can be fired, period.

It is reasonable for me to believe (based on common sense) that the consensus of Plant Managers, Supervisors, Lead Persons, etc...do indeed allow for exceptions that would result in quite less than a written warning for what the Op did--perhaps a verbal warning.

and what does that have to do with this situation? The OP's boss saw fit to issue a written warning and as such, did just that.

I've seen this senario many times over the course of my history as an employee, why is it so hard to see it in this circumstance?

because that is not what happened here.

 

[KnownOne]

Who do you think you are? What gives you the right?

 

[Willlyjo]

Is there a reason you haven't answered the questioned asked of you?

Sorry Pro ...I was busy as you should see. Yes, I did notice your questions and actually, I did handle a few cases on my own. I filed my wife's "Continuous Trauma" workers comp. case on her behalf as her representative and maintained it through a DOR before getting a lawyer to take over.

Also, I handled my own Workers Comp. Case because of 2 lawyers that I didn't think were doing the job (was able to get adequately compensated). I litigated against a major cable television provider (won't mention the name) for putting false charges on my billing statements.

The case was moved from Superior to Federal Court and I filed Opposition Papers to Summary Judgement and the case was remanded back to Superior Court where even though I had a Cause of Action for breach of 1770 of the Ca. Civil Code, I was given a very good employment opportunity so I let the case default.

My purpose was pretty much fullfilled anyway since I knew I cost them enough money in litigation expenses to at least, think about their deceitful and fraudulent behavior.

And no, I was never in HR or ever worked as an employment professional. What difference does that make? I'm not a lawyer neither, but I once suceeded in getting a much larger settlement than the lawyer who bailed out on my case would have gotten me.

When a big CEO of a major distribution company tried to tell someone near and dear to me that they were being fired because of an unexcused absense when they left work early on a particular day, I wrote a letter on behalf of this person pointing out certain sections of the Ca. Labor Code that supported an "excused absense" based on the fact the work environment was dangerous for this individual at the time he left.

A very reasonable settement was acquired based on MY interpretation of events, NOT the CEO's! So I guess that shows that you don't have to be a professional to be professional.

But I believe a couple seniors here will try to find a way to downplay that too. I do have a couple settlement agreements framed and hanging on the wall as well as letters of correspondence with several lawyers from St. Louis, Chicago and Los Angeles.

These letters show a rapport that existed and revealed a modicum of respect given to me. It is a good feeling when you have the respect of a couple lawyers in high ranking Law Firms around the country. The fact I don't get any respect in this forum really doens't bother me. The fact there really is a lot of ignorance does!