Medical Leave Claims

California employees have the right to take medical or disability leave. Whether it is you or a loved one who needs your care, the Family and Medical leave Act (FMLA) allows you to use 12 weeks of unpaid leave without fear of losing your job as a result; in some circumstances, you can obtain extra time beyond those 12 weeks. California law provides similar protection that employers are required to abide by.

Sometimes an employer, seeing an employee as a liability or inconvenience, will target that person for poor treatment, often to punish him or her or push him or her out of the organization in the wake of a medical or disability leave. You may need to bring a lawsuit against your employer if this has happened to you.

If you were targeted by your employer for taking medical or disability leave, talk to an experienced lawyer. You may have experienced one or more of the following problems when you returned to work:

• You were fired, laid off or forced to resign from your job after returning from medical leave, pregnancy leave or maternity leave.
• You were written up or disciplined by your manager for bogus or exaggerated performance issues.
• You were demoted, transferred or given undesirable shifts or tasks that you wouldn’t otherwise have been given.
• You were harassed for taking leave or blamed for burdening your co-workers.

The attorneys of California Employment Counsel, APC, understand the retaliatory tactics used by unethical employers and managers. We can protect your rights if you have been targeted and treated illegally.

It literally adds insult to injury to be fired after getting hurt on the job. To some employers, a seriously injured worker represents a “cost center” or “damaged goods.” They will go to elaborate lengths to engineer that employee’s exit.

It is illegal for an employer to retaliate against an employee for filing a workers’ comp claim or to terminate that worker for taking disability leave. If it happened anyway, California Employment Counsel, APC, is here to fight for your rightful compensation. We handle injury-related employment discrimination in Orange County and Southern California.

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Workers who are injured on the job are protected by state and federal laws, including California workers’ compensation, the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Workers’ comp and CFRA provide job-protected leave from work. An employer must reinstate you to your job or an equivalent position when you return from disability leave. The laws protect you whether you are off work for a few weeks or indefinitely. During a work injury leave, you are entitled to wage benefits and medical care (workers’ comp), you retain your health insurance and benefits, and you continue to accrue paid time off.

Despite all these protections, employers will sometimes take adverse action against injured employees. You may have grounds for a lawsuit if an employer:

• Terminated you after a workplace accident
• Denied your CFRA medical leave
• Threatened or harassed you
• Demoted you or docked your pay
• Refused to accommodate a work-related disability
• Turned you away when you tried to return to work

Employers sometimes fabricate reasons to discipline an injured employee as a pretext for eventually firing the person. Our experienced attorneys will not let them get away with this.

Were your hard work and loyalty rewarded with harassment or a pink slip? California Employment Counsel, APC, can explore your legal remedies for wrongful termination or work injury leave retaliation.

For a free consultation with our Orange County employment lawyers, contact us online or call (714) 462-8376 or toll free at 866-545-2415.

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