Medical leave denied
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Medical leave denied
I asked for a Medical Leave from work, I was denied, per my
doctors I took it anyway. I was never officially fired nor did
I resign but I was replaced. Now I have been denied
unemployment. Do I have any recourse
Asked on May 15, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Tennessee
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
There is no right to medical leave, even if your doctors say you need it, from work, *unless* your company was covered by FMLA (at least 50 employees within a 75 mile radius), you were eligible for it (had worked there at least a year, and you had worked at least 1,250 hours in the last 12 months), and you properly requested FMLA leave in advance. Otherwise, if you did not use FMLA leave and your employer denied your request for leave, if you took leave, you effectively quit or resigned: you failed to appear work, which is the equivalent of quitting. (You can quit or resign by your actions; you don't have to actually say or write "I am quitting" to make it a resignation.) If you quit or resign, you are not eligible for unemployment benefits. So while you should continue your appeal--it's worth trying--you need to prepare yourself for the fact that it is most likely that you will not get unemployment, because by unilaterally taking leave, you quit your job.
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