Do I have a case for wrongful termination?

Question

I live and work in Florida, and today I was fired due to attendance. The problem with this is that I was re-infected with a staph infection earlier last week. I made it to the doctor on Saturday and he gave a note saying I was clear to return to work on Monday (for those wondering why the short time, the staph had reasonably healed and the doctor felt I would be ok to work on monday).

However today I was fired for not coming in on my scheduled shift Saturday despite me bringing the doctors note and contact information. I tried to explain to my supervisors how dangerous these staph infections can be, yet it still did not matter.

Does my situation provide a case for wrongful termination?

Edit: I did call that Saturday and spoke to another supervisor, telling him I was at the doctor, what the situation was and that I had a doctors note clearing me to return on monday. Our policy states that you must call out no more than 2 hours after your assigned shift started, and I did call before the 2 hours was up.

Answer 1

There are several factors here that ar unknown and could effect your case. I suggest yo go to the board listed below for more educated help. BTW wrongful termination means being terminated in violation of law like fired for race, gender, religion etc.

Answer 2

Absent a union or employment contract to the contrary, employment is "at-will." That means that either the employee or the employer can end the employment for any reason or even no reason at all. The only exception is that the employer can not fire an employee based on discrimination (i.e., age, race, gender, religion, disability). There is no law in any state that says an employer can't fire an employee for going home sick. What it boils down to is that your husband was scheduled to work a particular shift and he ended up not doing so. That gives the employer cause for termination. But again, they don't even need cause--he can be fired for no reason at all. If your husband is a union member, he should talk to his union rep about it, as there may be something in the union contract which prevents it. Likewise, there is no law in any state that says an employee can't be fired by text message, phone, e-mail or any other method of communication. While it may be exceptionally unprofessional, it's not illegal or grounds for any lawsuit.

Answer 3

I'm assuming that you called in prior to your shift and told your supervisor that you were under a doctors care and could not come to work. If you had good attendance prior to this incidence then it would be unusual for you to be terminated. However, in a right to work state, you can be terminated for any reason except race, sex, age etc. There is no recourse for wrongful termination in your case. i would suggest that you file for unemployment but your employer may say that you were let go for cause (no call no show or excessive absenteeism) so I would hope that you still have all your documentation.

Answer 4

Nearly all states are "at will" employment jurisdictions. Accordingly, employers, unless restrained by an employment contract, can fire any employee for any reason except for a select few, which are prohbiited specifficaly by statute. In short, an employer does not have to a good reason for firing someone. However, there are certain kinds of conduct expressly prohibited by statute.

In your case depending on the size of your employer and the number of hours you have worked in the past year you may have a claim under the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA"). It would be worthwile to contact an attorney.

Answer 5

Did you call in Saturday before you would have been late? Did you miss any of the prior days in the week? Normally most places won't let you miss more than 3 consecutive days without a doctors note. Depending on how the company policy is written, it could go either way. No one way to without more info about your situation and without having your company's policy in hand.

Answer 6

Did you call before your shift? Did you give your supervisor sufficient notice to comply with the company's policy? If you did neither of these you were terminated rightfully

Answer 7

How many times were you absent before that? Florida is a "right to work" State. They can terminate you for any or no reason.

Answer 8

Most companies have a policy about attendance. If you were fired for that, you probably had already abused the attendance policy.

Answer 9

A mediator would have to find against you. You were scheduled to work and failed to report at the time.
End of story.

Answer 10

I don't think this is the place to get answers for your situation. Go to your labor board and tell them what happen and leave it in their "more than capable hands."