Feb 17
Is it legal to be fired for asking your boss for a LOA to enter rehab for alcoholism?
ALCOHOLISM ADDICTION Add comments
My brother asked his employer for a leave of absence so he could go to rehab for alcoholism (forget that his employer supposedly has an open door policy and programs to help its employees with problems without any reprocussions), his boss responded by firing him. Im pretty sure this is a violation of his ADA rights, but would like to know exactly what laws are being broken and the best way to handle the situation, as my brother cannot afford legal consult.
Tags: alcoholism, asking, boss, enter, fired, legal, Rehab
I’m pretty sure that is in violation of Family Medical Leave of Absence laws. It would depend what, exactly, your brother was supposedly fired for. In an at-will state (most states), employment is at-will and you can be fired any time for just about any reason. However, you can’t lose your job for requesting FMLA as you are guaranteed 12 weeks per year and your employer has to guarantee your job will be waiting when you return.
Again, the specifics will determine whether it was handled legally or not, but this sounds like a blatant FMLA violation. Usually lawyers will give a first consultation for free and they may take his case on a pay-if-we-win basis (don’t do it for more than 30%!!) He should take advantage of that first consult (make sure when he makes the appt. that it is free).
He could also simply strong arm them by threatening to bring about a FMLA case. Often, if you push just a little, they won’t risk it or won’t bother dealing with it.