I called in on Tuesday and became so sick I was unable to call in for wed thur fri I received a letter intending to dismiss on sat, On Monday I explained I had become so seriously Ill I was unable to call and was going to need more time to recover I was fired. I was a very good employee for four years. I was never asked for a Doctors excuse but did acquire one for the appeal it was not recognized . I did ask for leave but was not offered any

Sure they can fire you. They can fire you for whatever reason they want.

If you worked there for 4 years you may get 2 weeks pay because they should give you 2 weeks notice, but I don't think you'll get more than that.

It is almost like three strikes and your out. Same idea.

You were a no show for three days in a row. That is pretty much like quitting your job.

If you live in a work-at-will area they can fire you for any reason at all.

Since you did not call in sick for the other two days, nor did you have anyone call in for you, it is possible they thought you quit. Where I live it is considered quitting if there is a no call/no show for 3 days in a row.

Is that to say if I was in the hospital unconscious from drugs they gave me I would have no recourse

What if one could show that the employer had plenty of prior knowledge of this condition(Employee was recently hospitalized for this condition and discussed it with the employer) was aware the absentee was suffering from it during the time of the absence yet attempted to cover up there knowledge and make it about the no call no show rather than acknowledge the disability needs of the employee. Suppose the employee was in the hospital under sedation due to this condition. Making it impossible to call

No one could make the call for the employee?

The employee was under sedation for the entire three days?

Nowone knew to call and yes under sedation for the entire three days

nowone knew to call and yes under sedation for the entire three days
No coworker or family member knew this person was in the hospital? Who admitted the patient?

What was wrong that the patient needed to be sedated for three days?

Suppose the employee was in the hospital under sedation due to this condition. Making it impossible to call

Suppose we stick with the facts.

Were you in the hospital for 3 days, sedated? Where was your family or friends? Who admitted you to hospital? If you knew you had to go to hospital because of a prior condition, why didn't you inform your employer prior to going? Why couldn't anyone call?

At-will employment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At-will_employment)

This should answer your questions. Good luck

If a person is suffering from a legal disability and fails to call in to work to report his absence due to being incabable of understanding his obligations at the time i.e. schizophrenic episode, adverse reaction to medication. Should a tolling of the statute of limitation or time constraints apply in an employment regulation case and give that employee more time to report his absence perhaps until he is well enough to do so? Can you name a case where this occurred

Please don't start a new thread for the same question.

I've asked the mods to merge this with your other thread.

If you have more info to add to a question than do so on the original thread. Posting the same question over and over again, with different info, will not get you different opinions. We check previous posts when answering, so that we can get the whole story.

There were absolutely NO friends or relatives who knew you were in the hospital and who could explain your absence to your employer?

No one at work knew or had figured out after four years that you are schizophrenic (even if you were on meds)?

You weren't really sedated for three days, but were out of touch with reality because of the schizophrenic break that you were experiencing?

If you would be upfront and honest with us, we would be able to give you a good answer.

I am a mainic deppresant and had a very intense episode of mania. I am looking for similar cases. I called in originally but became incapacitated. I explained this to my employer but they chose to fire me rather than grant me time to recover. The police had made my condition known to them but they denied knowledge of the disability

I called in originally but became incapacitated.
So you did call in.

Why have you mentioned schizophrenia?

Ok, frst I don't know what you think Statue of Limitations has to do with this. SOL refers to the amount of time someone has to initiate legal action. The only thing that applies is the company policy on reporting absences.

If the company has a policy about reporting sick time and you violated that policy they could fire you. The only recourse I see you having might be under the ADA. If you can prove you were discriminated against due to your disability you might have a case. I would consult an attorney familiar with disability issues.

Yes SOL has nothing to do with this. The other issue is of course the company can fire you at any time for any or really no reasons, unless you have a contract. Next the issue is that if your medical condition makes it impossible for you to do normal work, and there is no accomidation at work that can be made to allow you to work with your disablity, yes you can be dismissed.

A work place is just that, a place to work they are no a social agency, they pay a person for certain skills or services

I am using some hypothetical circumstances so that I might create a better case. I am not trying to decieve you I have no reason for that. I am using this method to get outside the box. I was a very good employee with near perfect attendance and reviews going back four years reflecting community excellence. I went on short term disability 10 weeks prior I was hospitalized and diagnosed with manic deppresion. I returned to a hostile work environment but made full effort and missed 0 days. Then I began to lose sleep on a Thursday and on the following Tuesday I called in sick. That was my first day out. I went 4 more days without any sleep and was completely incapacitated. My wife left for a few days because it was not a good idea to keep my 2 year old in the home. I was acting bizarre and distant and we both agree it was the right thing to do. She called the police on the first day of my absence and the third day of my absence to have them check on me. She explained I was paronoid and psychotic and that she was trying to get me help. The police reported back to my employer because I was a city employee. Now I have some pieces of evidence that show communication with my employer by police and a judge who both reported my abnormal behavior. We have a lot of employee friendly programs for simmalar instances but my employer denied me access to those by leaving most of the mental illness stuff to the side and then down played it at the appeal while misrepresenting the facts . There was no intentional act of misconduct and according to our rules only a serious offense would by pass the rule of progressive disipline. I should have been afforded an adequate oppurtunity to correct my behavior that's what policy indicates. I believe I already have a strong case for discrimination. I am trying to find legal precedents showing reasonable causes employees could not call in. (A car crash victom for instance, the police would probably be the reporting agency to family or employer if family was unavailable. Now if that guy or gal is in a coma for a week I suppose an employer could fire them for no call no show. But there would have to be something in the law to protect that persons job and if there is not there should be. It seems civil and sound and legally right, you maybe the person returns and they say to bad we fired you and that's their right But I disagree with that and I think most people would. Especially if the employer knew of the car crash and sat by the phone with an evil smile watching the clock for 72 hours. Waiting to sign the termination papers that had been written days in advance.
There were absolutely NO friends or relatives who knew you were in the hospital and who could explain your absence to your employer?

No one at work knew or had figured out after four years that you are schizophrenic (even if you were on meds)?

You weren't really sedated for three days, but were out of touch with reality because of the schizophrenic break that you were experiencing?

If you would be upfront and honest with us, we would be able to give you a good answer.

Again you are going about this the wrong way. I doubt if you can justify your not reporting in. Given all the circumstances you relate I don't think you can justify it.

You speak of an appeal who did you appeal to? Was this done in a court?

I think you need to approach this from the angle of discrimination due to disability. I think that's the only angle you have.

I went on short term disability 10 weeks prior I was hospitalized and diagnosed with manic deppresion. I returned to a hostile work enviroment but made full effort and missed 0 days. Then I began to lose sleep on a Thursday and on the following Tuesday I called in sick. That was my first day out. I went 4 more days without any sleep and was completely incapacitated. My wife left for a few days because it was not a good idea to keep my 2 year old in the home. I was acting bizzare and distant
1. Had you been prescribed medication when in the hospital?
2. If so, were you taking it when you were supposed to and at the correct dosage?
3. Why wasn't it a good idea for your wife and two y/o to be in the house with you? Were you a danger to them?
4. You were a danger to yourself. Why didn't your wife and/or the police contact your psychiatrist and get you readmitted?
5. Why didn't your wife call your employer to fill him in?

1. Had you been prescribed medication when in the hospital?
2. If so, were you taking it when you were supposed to and at the correct dosage?
3. Why wasn't it a good idea for your wife and two y/o to be in the house with you? Were you a danger to them?
4. You were a danger to yourself. Why didn't your wife and/or the police contact your psychiatrist and get you readmitted?
5. Why didn't your wife call your employer to fill him in?

1.I was taken off medication at the hospital.
2.I was perscribed a new medication and yes I was taking it as prescribed up until about the 7th night without sleep. Stopping the medication finally allowed me to sleep. Curiously, the medication was to calm me and help me sleep.
3.I don't believe I was necessarily a danger but I was walking around talking to imaginary things and wasn't even aware of peoples presence. Not unless they got right in my face and grabbed my attention. My wife was scared because I was unpredictable. I could write for days and not be able to explain what was going on in my head. Funny I actually remember thinking I was in telepathic communication with one of my supervisors and that he was saying to take care of what I was going through and we would talk about things later. Maybe I should have said I did call but I used a alternative form of communication.
4. She did make a lot of phone calls but there was nowhere that would take me in our town in fact even the ER could not treat mental health in February. They took vitals and a urinalysis and said to get some sleep. They also recommended stopping one of the medications. There is not a psychiatrist in our town that take our insurance I had to tavel about 65 miles to see the one I had seen in February he had given me a drug he should not have given me which was a similar drug to one I told him I had a psychotic reaction to in 2000. After the ER trip I was just seeing my family practitioner and a psychologist. Mind you everyone started telling her that it sounded like I was using street drugs and she began to wonder and get angry she just got frustrated when everywhere she turned there was nowone to help.
5. I was employed by the same people who employ the police she knew I had contacted my supervisor on Tuesday before she left so being it a small town she figured everyone knew what was going on. They did but we talked some tonight and it really does seem like everyone involved believed I was on strong drugs illegal ones like meth or something. I say that because I was questioned and suspected of that in March when I returned to work. There was a huge line of questioning at the grievance hearing about me being a suspected meth addict. I haven't even had a drink in 6 years.

And none of that really matters. Knowing your condition, you should have made provision for this possibility. So the bottom line becomes you were absent without informing your employer.

So either you prove they were aware of it or you prove they are discriminating against you because of a disability. As far as I can see those are your options.

Again sorry for what you went though but that does not change the fact that a company has a rule about notification if you are going to be out. You did not and they acted upon standard company rules ( that most companies in US use)

Scott is right, you may use this as an appeal when they deny your unemployment ( be sure and file)
But I don't even see a discrimination case, since there is no way you could work during those type of days, and did your work place known of the serious disability you have before this starteed ?

Again sorry for what you went though but that does not change the fact that a company has a rule about notification if you are going to be out. You did not and they acted upon standard company rules ( that most companies in US use)

Scott is right, you may use this as an appeal when they deny your unemployment ( be sure and file)
But I don't even see a discrimination case, since there is no way you could work during those type of days, and did your work place known of the serious disability you have before this starteed ?

I did win the unemployment part and yes my employer knew of the disability. I had only missed work on 3 occasions in four years this was not an expected turn of events and I am just fine now.

Has anyone heard of the FMLA?
There are such things as unusual circumstances. Those can negate the company call in policies if reporting the need for leave was at the time not practical. We are in America not Iran. If you get sick or injured and you have been as responsibe as you could be you have a leg to stand on that being your previous hard work your word and our republic.

Has anyone heard of the FMLA?
There are such things as unusual circumstances. Those can negate the company call in policies if reporting the need for leave was at the time not practical. We are in America not Iran. If you get sick or injured and you have been as responsibe as you could be you have a leg to stand on that being your previous hard work your word and our republic.

I'm not a legal expert, nor am I in the US, but I think the problem with your scenario (unusual circumstances) is that your wife was perfectly capable of calling in for you, but she didn't.

You've gotten great advice, and I'm sorry that you weren't told what you wanted to hear, but the facts are the facts, and Scott and Fr_Chuck gave you the facts.

I wish you luck.

Has anyone heard of the FMLA?
There are such things as unusual circumstances. Those can negate the company call in policies if reporting the need for leave was at the time not practical. We are in America not Iran. If you get sick or injured and you have been as responsibe as you could be you have a leg to stand on that being your previous hard work your word and our republic.

Unfortunately for you, you did not notify your employer that you wished to take leave under FMLA. You called out sick one day and did not call the other days you were out.

To qualify for FMLA you must notify your employer, in extenuating circumstances, the day or the next business day.


Employee Notice Requirements
Q. How much notice must an employee give before taking FMLA leave?
A. When the need for leave is foreseeable based on an expected birth, placement for adoption or foster care, or planned medical treatment, an employee must give at least 30 days notice. If 30 days notice is not possible, an employee is required to provide notice “as soon as practicable.” Employees must also provide notice as soon as practicable for foreseeable leave due to a qualifying exigency, regardless of how far in advance such leave is foreseeable (see FAQ for military family leave for additional information). The regulations clarify that it should be practicable for an employee to provide notice of the need for leave that is foreseeable either the same day or the next business day. In all cases, however, the determination of when an employee could practicably provide notice must account for the individual facts and circumstances.
When the need for leave is unforeseeable, employees are required to provide notice as soon as practicable under the facts and circumstances of the particular case, which the regulations clarify will generally be within the time prescribed by the employer’s usual and customary notice requirements applicable to the leave.


So, in actuality, if your employer has a 3 day notice policy and you failed to notify them within that 3 day time, you failed to comply for FMLA benefits with your company.

http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/finalrule/NonMilitaryFAQs.pdf

Yes we've heard of the FMLA, but, as J_9 pointed out, it doesn't apply here.

You keep grasping at straws when we have told you what your best tactics are.

Let's see. You already took a TEN week short term disability. Then you call in sick one day and don't show up. This leads me to think that your employer (the city) really does not want to "coddle" you any longer and decided to terminate you. You MAY have "scared" some of your co-workers and the city decided it's time you found employment elsewhere. They are well within their legal rights to terminate you even if you never missed a day, let alone "forgot" to call in.

This termination happened 6 months ago and you were approved for UE.

If you are that disabled that you need to be hospitalized have you ever considered filing for SS Disability? A lot of bipolar folks are on disability so this would not be out of the norm for you to be approved.

gw_88 disagrees: Some things we choose and some things we don't.

And just WHAT is this statement supposed to mean?

You have a lot of problems and at this point it probably would be better for you to NOT hold a regular job until you are totally better.

Comments on this post
gw_88 disagrees : Some things we choose and some things we don't.

First, may I call your attention to the guidelines for using the comments feature found here:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/feedback/using-comments-feature-24951.html

I suspect you came here looking for affirmation that you treated illegally. But, unfortunately for you, we don't see it that way. We look at the law in making our answers.

You were treated according to company policy. I see no discrimination here.

Your responses here are out of line.

I once argued with a guy for four years that a clock could appear to move counter-clockwise depending on the way you look at it. Finally, I presented him with a transparent clock and showed it to him from the back. His only response was it is still moving like a clock. There is in no way enough information included in this question to come to such a certain and absolute conclusion. I give you all a 10 for your opinionated frenzy. On the grade of wisdom a 5. It would be lower but at least 1 person thought to ask for more information. This reminds me of this guy has 2 purple hearts and a handful of other decorations. He is mentally ill getting old we have talked he panhandles, it's his right to ask, he gets spit on regularly probably by the same type of Americans that you all seem to be. That is my opinion. Tea anyone

First, you were told to review the rules of this site about using the comments feature. You ignored that and continue to use it inappropriately.

Second, while I agree with you that it often is impossible to give definitive advice based the little information provided. And often when that happens, we will tell you so. But I don't think that is the case here. I believe we have enough info to give the advice we have.

Finally, I see a lot of sour grapes here. Like I said previously, you came here seeking affirmation of your ideas and when you didn't get that, you strike back with insults. That is a reaction we see too often here. The clock thing is trickery and courts don't like trickery. No one "spit" on you. We told you the facts as we see them and I stand by what we told you. Until you can come up with proof that our advice was bad I have to believe its good.

If the OP keeps just complaining with no interaction, this thread will be closed, It is obvious that they don't want any real help, just others to feel sorry for them

Your not asking the right question. Your employer denied you a reasonable accomadotion under ADA 29 CFR(1630.2)(0)(2)(ii). They should have made an appropriate adjustment to the policy. Unless of course this would have caused an undue hardship such as a significant disruption to your employer's business. I believe you could make a case that missing a few days work is not that substantial a loss to a municipality. Your correct there are laws in America that protect the citizen from the big bad wolf. Your employer is obligated to interact in the discussion concerning a disability or medical need and that process should have been documented by your employer that is their responsibility. You should have signed papers waving your rights to things such as leave and accommodation if you signed no such things and can show you requested them even in a reasonably percievable fashion. Well if you reported it to the proper agencies you might hear good news in due time. Good luck and let this be a lesson if something like this happens again have a plan in place. An employer can dismiss you for any reason at will but they cannot break the law in doing so.

There are many forms of biplolar disorder most have rare or mild occurrences.Your comment is very discriminatory. Would you say that about a cancer patient or a person with a brain tumor. Perhaps a pregnant women with complication. Coddled?