What to do if my husband was fired from his job because he was sick and called off?
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What to do if my husband was fired from his job because he was sick and called off?
When he returned to work the following day with a doctor’s excuse, his supervisor would not take his excuse and laughed in his face. Can he take any kind of action to get his job back or any type of monetary compensation?
Asked on December 23, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Ohio
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If your husband was an "at will" employee, his employer could set the terms and conditions of employment much as it saw fit. So unless his discharge violated company policy, an employment/union agreement or constituted some form of legal discrimination, he have no legal recourse.
Specifically, based on the facts presented his former employer was within its legal rights to terminate your husband's employment. While unfair; it was legal. The fact is that there is a common misconception that an employer has to honor a doctor's note but that's just not the case. An employer is free to disregard such a note (with just a few exceptions not applicable here).
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