Since its enactment in 1993, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) has given employees the right to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid time away from their jobs without loss of seniority or other rights. Some employers, however, ignore these rules when their workers need time off to care for ill or infirm family members.
Mitchell Feldman of Feldman Legal Group represents workers who have been fired while on leave and want to pursue an Atlanta FMLA leave wrongful termination case. For more than a decade, our wrongful termination attorneys have aggressively pursued back pay and other compensation owed to employees whose employers participated in FMLA violations.
What Assurances Does the FMLA Provide?
Within a continuous 12-month period, if you have given more than 1,250 hours of service to an employer with a minimum of 50 employees, the FMLA allows you to take up to 12 weeks of leave from work to care for yourself or a sick family member. If you do so, what the FMLA requires your employer to include:
- Provide you with health care coverage while you are away from work
- Allows you to use the FMLA when you or your spouse gives birth or you adopt a child
- Place you back on staff when you return in an identical or similar role with no reduction in salary or benefits
- Extend your FMLA rights to enable you to manage matters when the military calls a family member to active duty
- Grant a leave extension of up to 26 weeks if you need to care for an injured family member who serves in the armed forces
Your employer can require you to use your accrued paid time off while you take FMLA-protected leave. You can also divide your FMLA leave days into several segments, and you do not need to take 12 consecutive weeks of leave. If your employer fired you while you took FLMA-protected leave, Atlanta lawyer Mitchell Feldman could help determine if your employer wrongfully terminated you and is liable for discrimination.
What Can You Do if Your Employer Violates the FMLA?
If you work in Atlanta and your employer wrongfully fired you for taking leave and exercising your Family and Medical Leave Act rights, you can seek justice in a couple of ways. You can submit a complaint to the Wage and Hour Division of the United States Department of Labor, which will investigate claims. If investigators determine your claims are valid, they will take action to remedy the violations. Examples of remedies include requiring your employer to pay back your lost wages or rehire you. You can also choose to sue your former employer for damages resulting from an FMLA violation.
In all cases, you should gather and retain as much evidence as possible to document the alleged FMLA violation. That evidence might include written requests for leave, termination notices, and any formal documentation the FMLA requires, such as a Notice of Eligibility. Our experienced lawyers could provide specific direction on which evidence will most impact your case.
How Could Our Lawyers Help?
Our wrongful termination attorneys in Atlanta could evaluate your case to verify whether your employer violated the terms of the Family and Medical Leave Act while you took approved time off work.
If so, we could file a complaint on your behalf with the Department of Labor and prepare and file a lawsuit to recover back pay and other benefits that your employer improperly withheld from you. Working with a skilled attorney helps ensure a fair negotiation for your FMLA discrimination claim so it can be closed without going to trial.
Contact Our Atlanta Attorneys if Your Employer Wrongfully Fired You for Taking FMLA Leave
If you were subject to an Atlanta FMLA leave wrongful termination from your employer, it is natural to feel anxiety and confusion. We could help hold your employer accountable for violating your FMLA rights and pursue justice on your behalf. Call us at the Feldman Legal Group for compassionate and effective legal guidance.
(877) 946-8293