Question: "My wife and I had a child. She had Dr’s excuses which allowed her extended maternaity leave. She was given a date to provide one last excuse to allow her time needed per her company’s policy, which she did. When my wife stopped into the office after the baby…
Question: "My wife and I had a child. She had Dr's excuses which allowed her extended maternaity leave. She was given a date to provide one last excuse to allow her time needed per her company's policy, which she did. When my wife stopped into the office after the baby was born, she was notified she'd been terminated, and insurance cancelled two weeks prior. This seems strange to us, what are our options?"
Joe Knows the Answer: This story doesn't sound right. First of all, it depends on many issues and it's complicated. NYS Disability covers your time out from work if pregnancy related. It sounds like aside from that, the company had a post-pregnancy policy for allowing peoplet ime off and for some reason or another, the company terminated her – either for non-compliance or some other reason. So this one's difficult to understand.
Clearly if there's a written policy that's part of the employment contract, they can't violate that. Your wife may have grounds to sue for improper termination. If there were other grounds for termination, of course, you could still argue you believe the grounds were based on the pregnancy. There also could be particular issues concerning coverage – medical leave issues related to federal policies. The best advice in this situation is to contact a lawyer to see what to do next. Documentation is a good place to start. Ask the company for a complete explanation in writing and a copy of all the paperwork. This will also be helpful to have when you meet with your Attorney.
