Man says he was fired because of a sick son

[stevetheupsguy]

A friend of mine emailed this article to me.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts...im-for-taking-leave-time-for-sick-son/1035556

ST. PETERSBURG
Days after his youngest son survived a heart transplant, Michael Calhoun made sure he was the first one to cradle the boy in his arms.
It was May 2008, and after four months of waiting, doctors had finally found a new heart for 1-year-old Daniel, who along with his two other brothers suffers from a rare heart-related disease called Barth syndrome.
But his son's surgery wasn't the only thing on Calhoun's mind. Amid a year that involved moving across the country, finding new schools and dealing with three chronically ill children, Calhoun had another worry.
Things weren't going so well at work.
Calhoun, a 40-year-old father of five, says that UPS, a company he'd worked at for three years, fired him in the fall when he missed too much time from work to care for his sick sons.
He filed a civil lawsuit last month in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court, claiming that the company violated his rights under the Family Medical Leave Act and committed disability discrimination.
"There was a change in their attitude toward me when I started taking off time under FMLA," Calhoun said. "We never thought in a million years that I'd be fired."
UPS disputes Calhoun's claims.

The rest of the article here.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts...im-for-taking-leave-time-for-sick-son/1035556

 

[Covemastah]

And this would be a ""shock"" to you!!! sad aint it Stug!!

 

[stevetheupsguy]

And this would be a ""shock"" to you!!! sad aint it Stug!!

You would think that UPS would want "GOOD" publicity in these days and times.

 

[dannyboy]

You know, a problem with a lot of people is that they think that the FMLA gave them a free pass to take off as much time as they need to take care of family stuff.

Truth is that in many cases, it hurt. There were employers that tried working with the employees even more than the FMLA allows.

But the FMLA also gives the employer broad rights after you use up the time allowance for your family issue.

Case in point.

A friend of my wife is a nurse. Her brother was shot in the chest, and she took off almost 9 months to care for him. This was 13 or 14 years ago.

Last year, she was in Fla to get medical help for one of her grand children. At the hotel, they had just mopped the floor. Did not put out warning signs. She slipped and fell, tearing up her knee and ankle.

She was out less than 5 months when the hospital terminated her. Under their rights under the FMLA, they have that right/responsibility not to create a situation that creates a variance.

Also another example.

UPS had at times created a job to help out a driver that had health problems that kept him from driving. Many times, they would "create" a job for that driver.

But under the contract, any job that is in for more than 30 days has to be bid. So now, that job no longer is his, but goes up for bid to the most senior driver, so they no longer offer that option to the sick driver.

There are many times that new regulations that you think will win you rights, actually end up costing you in the long run.

d

 

[cachsux]

Well without going into specifics I would have to say it has helped in my case. While I have worked with some management that have helped me I also have had ones who did not. FMLA being a federal law eliminates that problem.

 

[MechanicForBrown]

This is absolutely outrageous!!! It angers me on a personal level! I have had some issues with FMLA as some of you probably remember, My first post on the BC was about being treated unfairly, and I've had a bumpy ride while on intermittent FMLA.

I feel so much for this former UPSER and his family! I hope he gets his message across to UPS in court, whether he wins a settlement or not he is right, it's about the principal. I hope he has the strength to keep going and fight for his family's rights and the WRONG caused by UPS

What a ****ing family orientated company, eh?

 

[cachsux]

Bumpy ride? Because of caring for your child (none of our business) or because of harassment from UPS?

 

[BigUnionGuy]

You know, a problem with a lot of people is that they think that the FMLA gives them a free pass to take off as much time as they need to take care of family stuff.

My brief opinion after reading the link....

Short term employee with family members that had pre-existing medical issues and was found to be abusing FMLA.

Not saying that is the case here.... But it is kind of funny how people get religion real quick... or try to exploit it.... to justifly their actions.


-BUG-

 

[MechanicForBrown]

Bumpy ride? Because of caring for your child (none of our business) or because of harassment from UPS?

Both