Fired for missing work and being in the hospital. (how much, attorneys) - City-Data Forum

metalguitarist1 · 09-30-2011, 10:51 AM

I got sick suday night and come to find out monday I was being admitted in the hospital and the vice president of the company I work for was calling me. My wife answered the phone and told him I would return his phone call as soon as I could. After being admitted in the hospital I called my Boss back and he told me the client let me go because of missing to much work. I told him I always bring a doctors excuse and that is not right. he said the company is a billion dollar company and they can do what they want. I said is this the same billion dollar company that filled bank ruptcy only 3 years ago? he said anyways we will have to find you another job. I know this man they will leave me hanging till I quit. or they will find me a job that pays way less than I am worth. Does anyone know what I can do? I think the company we were contracted through was wrong for letting me go. they have others that miss work all the time for less than being in the hospital and they have employees that miss just because and don't even bring in a doctors excuse. I think I'm being judged by my color I am Hispanic and they don't treat the whites there like they treat me. I was the only hispanic employee that was working for my company. they treat the blacks just as bad.

plwhit · 09-30-2011, 12:08 PM

Oh ye gods, another person who wants to fall back on the race card..

File a complaint with the EEOC...

1-800-669-4000

Or hire a lawyer...

Or you can just wait to see what all the "experts" here on C-D have to say and the resulting flame war...

ChristieP · 09-30-2011, 12:42 PM

Had you been employed by the company (the one who signs your pay check) for 365 days? If not, you were not eligible for FMLA leave, so they employer is well within their rights to terminate you for violating their attendance policy.

Trainwreck20 · 09-30-2011, 12:59 PM

It is pretty much a right-to-work/right-to-fire state, with the exception for the federally protected areas - race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, and disability. I think I got all the major ones there are military and pregnancy, etc, but don't seem to apply to you.

Anyway, missing a lot of work is not covered, whether or not you have a doctors note. If you have a disability, then you are protected somewhat, up unto the point you cannot perform your job. At that point, they can find you another job that you can perform, I think. Not sure on if it has to pay the same or not, etc.

Sunderpig · 09-30-2011, 01:22 PM

Call a good lawyer. They may be very willing to pick up the case.

A person can't be legally fired for being a human, and experiencing common human setbacks. If people don't stand up for their rights and liberties, "The Man" (esp. corporate America) will have us all as slaves to their rules.

Trainwreck20 · 09-30-2011, 03:00 PM

They can fire you for having the wrong haircut, if they want. They just have to pay higher unemployment premiums if they do too much firing w/o cause.

Two4damoney · 09-30-2011, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plwhit

Oh ye gods, another person who wants to fall back on the race card..

Yep, exactly what I was thinking. Maybe La Raza will send one of their attorneys to look into this "racial discrimination" by the evil white man. lol

piyf · 09-30-2011, 03:53 PM

This isn't school where a doctors note will excuse you from missing to much work. It's a paper that tells your employeer that you were indeed sick and why you missed work. They're a business to make money. If their employee cannot perform the work they have every right to find someone that can.

Put yourself in their shoes. They need someone they can count on. Would you want someone working for you that was always sick and put more workload on the other employees?

h886 · 09-30-2011, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by metalguitarist1

I got sick suday night and come to find out monday I was being admitted in the hospital and the vice president of the company I work for was calling me. My wife answered the phone and told him I would return his phone call as soon as I could. After being admitted in the hospital I called my Boss back and he told me the client let me go because of missing to much work. I told him I always bring a doctors excuse and that is not right. he said the company is a billion dollar company and they can do what they want. I said is this the same billion dollar company that filled bank ruptcy only 3 years ago? he said anyways we will have to find you another job. I know this man they will leave me hanging till I quit. or they will find me a job that pays way less than I am worth.

A few questions... was this the first time you'd missed work? If you had, say, 3 years of never missing a day, then missed a week because you can document you're in the hospital, you have a fairly reasonable argument. If you've had other absences (for whatever reason) and this is just the straw that broke the camel's back, then you have a pretty weak excuse and are just trying to pull the race card. From the wording in those two spots I bolded, it sounds like you miss work quite frequently and expect to slide by with a doctor's note. At some point, you can miss too much time at work to be effective (good excuse or not) and therefore aren't doing the job as described. Work is not a charity. If you can't do the job, they need to find someone who can.

If your boss merely sets you up with clients and the client doesn't want to work with you because of your excessive absences, what choice does your boss have? He needs someone who can get the job done. If he gives you less prestigious clients or fewer opportunities for the bigger accounts, well, that's just how it goes. Perhaps if you prove yourself to be reliable in the future, you'll be given those plum jobs again.

JayBrown80 · 10-01-2011, 01:05 AM

Sigh.

1) I am confused. Were you fired or not? Your title says "fired", your post says "leaving me hanging till I quit"?
2) Texas is a right to work state. You or your employer may terminate your employment at any time, as long as it doesn't violate federal statutes, which in your case it does not.
3) How much work have you missed in total? You tell us of one incident where you were hospitalized. What about the other incidents? I am betting there are many. Also, and this might shock you, a doctor's note is not willy wonka's golden ticket that means your company HAS to keep you around. You could have cancer and been hit by a bus on the way to go donate a kidney to a homeless orphan and they could STILL fire you. That's what "right to work" means.
4) Mouthing off to the vice president of the company or your boss, telling him "your company went bankrupt 3 years ago" is not a good way to keep your job. The fact that you blame racism, and not your smart mouth, tells me that you have poor decision making skills.

I am sorry if you are sick. And this is a bad time to be unemployed, no doubt. But from your post, it seems to me that your being fired was inevitable. Suck it up and find a job that doesn't mind if you have a smart mouth and excessive absences. And when you find it, let me know, because I would love to work there.

As someone smarter than me once said "Your best thinking and your best decisions got you in the situation you are now. And since neither one of those things seem to be improving, your situation probably won't either."