Doctors say vs. Employer say

[lawman18]

My wife is pregnant and her pregnancy is considered high risk, her doctor put her on bed rest and California State Disibility. Her employer states she has to be on FMLA and maternity leave and has put her on both. FMLA allowes her 12 weeks unpaid leave and her maternity leave is 16 weeks and is unpaid. Her employer is running them concurrent and states to myself and her that if she does not return to work within the 16 weeks, she can apply for her job back. My wifes condition will last longer than the allowed 12 weeks so I asked her HR "benifits specialist" if she was on disibility what was the point of putting her on both forms of leave? She had no answer. I then asked if that means they are going to terminate her and she said yes.

If my wifes doctor put her on disibility why would her employer force her to take the FMLA and maternity and then run them at the same time? Can her employer terminate her if she is on state disibility? This "benifits specialist" aslo told me that doctors do not understand the law and place people on disability too soon. Uh, since when does a secretary dictate what a medical doctor does for his patient and if her condition were anything else would we be going through the same issues.

Very sorry to hear about this -- my thoughts go out to you and your wife. This sounds like an absolute mess, but the good news here is that California has just about the toughest regulations in the country to protect folks in circumstances such as your wife finds herself. The very best recommendation I can make is to take a proactive stance -- meaning speak with an attorney now rather than later on reacting to what her employer does. I would consider going to the WLD main page and getting a referral to a labor and employment lawyer in your area. They have counsel all over and would be the best place to start. Hope things look brighter for both of you soon. AJJ

[lawman18]

I talked to my union rep about this mess and it appears I will need a lawyer to figure this out. I always thought that if you were on leave by a doctor, it was for a good reason and your job was protected. I've come to find out that just isn't the case. It appears employers have the right to to terminate you for anything no matter the reason. It is up to the employee to prove it was done maliciously or discriminatory. I'm so glad I have a union behind me and I hate the fact she has nobody to protect her. It is on our shoulders now to prove the employer wrong and fight for what is right. Off to find a good lawyer!

[Ceesmom]

I too had a high risk pregnancy in 2007. My ob/gyn had taken me off in my 5th month. There were no questions asked as far as me collecting state disability (California). Ob patients are the hardest patients to deny disability to because you have a life inside of you and that would make the doctor liable if something were to happen to you and the fetus. I am a healthcare worker myself so I'm aware of pregnancy complications. However, when I delivered my son, they had to call a surgeon in and give me an emergency bowel resection and this was the culprit to the pain that I was having during my pregnancy. The pain actually began when I first got pregnant and I thought I had appendicitis. Therefore, no employer can override a doctor and I'm very sorry that you have to get a lawyer for something that just makes so much sense because of a pregnancy.

Originally Posted by Ceesmom I too had a high risk pregnancy in 2007. My ob/gyn had taken me off in my 5th month. There were no questions asked as far as me collecting state disability (California). Ob patients are the hardest patients to deny disability to because you have a life inside of you and that would make the doctor liable if something were to happen to you and the fetus. I am a healthcare worker myself so I'm aware of pregnancy complications. However, when I delivered my son, they had to call a surgeon in and give me an emergency bowel resection and this was the culprit to the pain that I was having during my pregnancy. The pain actually began when I first got pregnant and I thought I had appendicitis. Therefore, no employer can override a doctor and I'm very sorry that you have to get a lawyer for something that just makes so much sense because of a pregnancy.

However, I am not a doctor and you may need to seek legal counsel.

Originally Posted by Unregistered However, I am not a doctor and you may need to seek legal counsel.

And I'm just speaking on what happened to me.