My friend was 7 months pregnant when she was offered a job at a large company, the company knew she was pregnant. She had quite a bit of complications toward the end of her pregnancy, which all were document and excused from work by her physicians. She had her baby yesterday and today she received her paycheck and was suppose to get a employee referral bonus she didn't get it so she called and asked when she was going to get it, they responded by saying she wasn't because she had been fired. She asked why she was fired and they said because you missed to much work with being pregnant and always having to go to the doctor. So two questions are... 1: can they withhold her the employee referral bonus for referring and employee that was hired. 2: can they legally fire her because of pregnancy and medical conditions? I thought that was discrimination, can she take them to court?
Thank You.
2007-12-18 10:34:04 · 4 answers · asked by monkeystoneart 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Can they withhold the bonus? - Depends on the requirements of the bonus program. Most require that the recipient be a current employee.
Can they fire her? - Again, yes. She was not fired for being pregnant. Their defense could easily be based on the fact they hired her pregnant. She was fired for missing to many days. She has not worked long enough to be eligible for FMLA even if the employer is large enough to be required to offer it. As such, the employer had no obligation to give her ANY time off for doctors appointments, complications or the delivery itself.
Can she take them to court? - Sure. She will however lose.
2007-12-18 10:42:56 · answer #1 · answered by davidmi711 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The employment referral bonus would be based on what the wording of the agreement is.
Can they fire her for missing too much work -- yes. Irregardless of being pregnant if you miss too much work they can fire you. She was not there long enough to be covered under FMLA, and just because you have a doctors "note" does not make it okay to miss work.
2007-12-18 10:39:07 · answer #2 · answered by Susie D 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She was there only a short time, and most companies have a 'trial period' built into the contract. This allows them to fire someone they don't like for no reason. Now, it may be possible to argue discrimination, but that is unlikely in this case.
2007-12-18 11:02:03 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it is impossible for anyone to give legal advice over the internet, especially because there is no way to have all of the facts of any particular situation and laws vary by state.
If your friend would like to learn more about her rights and see if she can get free legal advice and other assistance in her state, she could go to www.lawhelp.org, which has a state-by-state directory of legal information by topic, including employment. The site also offers listings of organizations in each state that may provide free legal advice and legal assistance.
2007-12-18 10:52:28 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋