So upset

[carebearmomma]

Well one of my greatest fears became reality today. I have been fired from my job of over 2 1/2 years. I've had so many problems with my pregnancy & tried to keep in contact with my boss as much as possible but it wasn't good enough. I'm so lost, hurt, & angry I don't know what to do. I don't know how I'm gonna pay my bills, have $ for food, etc. Can I just crawl in a hole & never come out?

[MamaBear0612]

Sorry for the multiple posts, I've been doing some research on this. I was always told our jobs were protected in pregancy and it seems that you're in a situation that should probably be protected as well. If I were you, I'd probably go to Human Resources or if necessary, the EEOC, with an employment discrimination claim. From what I understand, if you could have taken FMLA but your employer didn't inform you of that right, you may still be protected retroactively; you should also be protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The link below is on employment discrimination during pregnancy.

http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/pregnancy.cfm

[MamaBear0612]

http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/fmlaen.pdf

[MamaBear0612]

My job is making me take it concurrently with sick leave. Technically, I'm on medical leave right now, having to use both my sick leave and FMLA time.

[buggie216]

I worked for the government...FMLA only kicked in once you were out of leave...

[MamaBear0612]

The FMLA paperwork explicitly says that it can be taken all at once, or split up as necessary...

[Factorymomma]

You can use FMLA for pregnancy complications, as long as they are confirmed by your doctor.
It's on the FMLA regulations website.

[Factorymomma]

Thats incorrect, if your HR told you that it's a blatant lie.  My last pregnancy I used FMLA.for appointments and such because they were medically necessary (specialists really don't give you a choice on appointments it seems).

[Factorymomma]

This process should have been started when you found out you may miss several days due to appointments, ect.
Sadly, you really wouldn't have a legal ground to sue as they didn't fire you for being pregnant, you were fired for absences beyond company policy. :-(  sorry

[carebearmomma]

The FMLA policy states I can only use it when I have the baby. I tried calling the office manager about it & of course nobody called me back.

[Factorymomma]

Sadly it is within their legal rights to fire a pregnant woman if they take sick days in excess of their companies policy.  The way to safe guard yourself is to use FMLA in conjunction with your sick day.  This requires the appropriate paperwork from your HR office, and for your doctor to sign off on the fact that you need to use FMLA for your sick days as they pertain to your ongoing condition.  The FMLA protects your job.  Not using it gives you no protection.

[smiley_one]

Get a doctors note from your OBGYN and I would talk with human resources. You may, or may not, have a case against them.

[carebearmomma]

I don't know if they can do this or not. It makes it 10X more stressful because I don't have friends or family to help out. Everyone has stopped talking to me because I am pregnant.

[bbymama2]

You cn sue... Thats a medical problem. Cn they do that

[louieforlaughs]

i'm very sorry to this has happened to you. i agree that sometimes you just want to crawl into bed and let the world keep going without you for a while. just make sure that at some point you do pick yourself up again and look for another job. sometimes a girls night out helps too.
hope you find a way to cope.

[carebearmomma]

No, no concerns of me being pregnant ... Even tho I worked inside a jail around inmates.

[carebearmomma]

They said I abused sick leave. I don't see how when I told them my gyn told me to see a certain doctor for my issues & they still haven't contacted me to set anything up.

[bbymama2]

Wow sorry to hear that. He had no concerns of u being pregnant? Thats sad

[babymama1985]

Why did they fire you?