Ask Me Help Desk - Fired for having lupus and missing work

First off I will state I understand I was let go of my full time position as a therapist because I have lupus and have been very ill and missed a lot of work. They would not however fire me I'm guessing so I could not try and get unemployment instead telling me I would be made a PRN or as needed employee which I found rather sneaky! Since this is not guaranteed hours or work can I still file for unemployment do u think ? I am going to go to doctor Monday and beg to try the new lupus drug out and see if it might work for me! I have one other question which is about discrimination. I was let go for missing so much work yet the bosses best friend worked
There too and missed as much if not more than I did and does not have an illness- which I did inform them I had when I took the job and that I had flare ups that would cause me to have to be absent- yet she still has her job! Is that discrimination?

May be, you will have to hire an attorney, get copies off all the attendance records and prove that the other employee missed more than you.

Then you will need proof that the reason they did this was illness not other work performance.

There's fired and laid off only; 'let go' has to be one or the other, so find out. It matters for unemployment, which you can apply for either way. Laid off means instant unemployment and fired means waiting for the employer to appeal the claim. Being offered a different status (prn) would qualify you for unemployment. However, to collect it you have to be able to work, and to show that you are applying for jobs. So if illness is making it more and more difficult to work and even job hunt, there isn't a lot of point in applying.

Suing for discrimination will be extremely difficult, drag on for years, and not get you a dime of compensation, at least the odds are extreme. Being let go when another person wasn't is not the same as being let go without cause.

You should be thinking of applying for SSDI at your local Social Security office. It takes a minimum of 3 months to get it approved, and you have to have not worked for longer than that, but look into it now anyway. I am not so sure the prn work arrangement is a good idea, because they might never call you in, yet that would put you in a grey area of ability to work. Your doctor is the one who determines ability to work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by joypulv

There's fired and laid off only; 'let go' has to be one or the other, so find out. It matters for unemployment, which you can apply for either way. Laid off means instant unemployment and fired means waiting for the employer to appeal the claim. Being offered a different status (prn) would qualify you for unemployment. However, to collect it you have to be able to work, and to show that you are applying for jobs. So if illness is making it more and more difficult to work and even job hunt, there isn't a lot of point in applying.

Suing for discrimination will be extremely difficult, drag on for years, and not get you a dime of compensation, at least the odds are extreme. Being let go when another person wasn't is not the same as being let go without cause.

You should be thinking of applying for SSDI at your local Social Security office. It takes a minimum of 3 months to get it approved, and you have to have not worked for longer than that, but look into it now anyway. I am not so sure the prn work arrangement is a good idea, because they might never call you in, yet that would put you in a grey area of ability to work. Your doctor is the one who determines ability to work.

I actually applied for disability through this employer but because of a loop hole I did not qualify but my doctors had not problems filling out the paperwork for me! I have not done SSI because I have heard it is so difficult to get! Was just afraid I would never be able to get it even though I'm so ill.

Do you mean your employer has a disability plan? Is it short term, long term, or both? It sounds like maybe only long term (LTD on your paystub). The loop hole might be hinging on the offer to hire you PRN. A lawyer would have to prove that they are systematically hiring others PRN and passing over you, and it would be difficult. Not fair if they never do call you in.
You should apply for SSDI, not SSI. SSI is welfare, state benefits for people with no recent work history. SSDI is federal, based on what you paid out of your lifetime wages to Social Security. Yes, it takes time to get, but with lupus and all the time you did lose from work, you should be approved about as quickly as is possible, and you should ask them in person when you should apply.