I have a question I am hoping someone can help shed light on.. actually several questions. I was a full time employee at a car dealership that implimented a "no compete contract" to keep its employees from going to another dealership. We were somewhat forced or bribed into signing this document. Shortly after, I went out with a back injury and have gone to several doctors concerning this. Also, my daughter has been placed into a behavioral hospital to undergo testing and treatment for what the doctors think might be Aspbergers Syndrome. On July 12, 2007, I called into work to let them know I had hurt my back. I continued to contact them on the days I could and my wife contacted them on the days that I was in the hospital. No one from the company contacted me regarding this until Tues July 17 at approx 9am. At that time my wife answered the phone due to my being in the hospital. She explained where I was and was told that they hoped all was well and to keep them posted. On July 19, my doctor gave me a written excuse not to return to work until released from medical care and also gave me an appointment to return to the doctor on Aug. 1, 2007. On that same day, July 19, 2007, my wife made contact with the assistant service director to ask about FMLA and short term disability. The person she talked to gave her all the information required to start the process. On July 21, I was served a certified letter explaining that my employment with the company was terminated on July 16, 2007 due to job abandonment. Now here are my problems, first I was in the process of filing a short term disability insurance claim, now because of my unemployment, I can't. Second, I was also in the process of filing a FMLA claim, but now what?
What can I do??? what are my options??? I am unemployed, without insurance, and worried about my daughter... WHAT DO I DO????

Was this a work injury? If there is a non compete clause in your contract, no matter how they obtained it, you have to follow it. I would take the non compete paperwork to a lawyer in your area, to see if it holds water, and if you have to abide by it. We can not answer that without seeing the paperwork in front of us. I would continue getting the paperwork filled out for FMLA. Do you even qualify for FMLA leave? Here are the requirements:

Q: Are there any employees who are not covered by this law?

Yes. It's been estimated that about 60 percent of U.S. workers (and about 95 percent of U.S. employers) are not covered by the law. To be eligible for FMLA benefits, an employee must:

work for a covered employer;
have worked for the employer for at least a total of 12 months;
have worked at least 1,250 hours over the prior 12 months; and,
work at a location where at least 50 employees are employed by the employer within 75 miles.

Forget the non-compete that went south as soon as they terminated you.
Contact an Employment attorney about the rest.
JoeC

Forget the non-compete that went south as soon as they terminated you.
Contact an Employment attorney about the rest.
JoeC

I am under the impression that some non compete clauses go beyond the firing/quiting date, so one can not just up and quit, and divulge important information about a competing company (especially out of spite for being fired). I disagree with you here Joe, sorry.

Since none of us have read the non-compete, none of us can say with any certainty whether it does or does not continue after you are terminated. ONLY an attorney in your state who has read it in full can say for certain if it can still be enforced or not.

We can't tell from here whether or not you qualify for FMLA or if you can still file an STD claim. (STD eligibilty is determined by the policy, not by law.) In many cases as long as you are covered by the plan on the day of the onset of disabilty, you can still file a claim even if your employment is subsequently terminated. It can't hurt to try.

Did you (and your wife) actually speak to someone each day, or did you leave messages? Were company call in procedures followed exactly?

FMLA also requires a company that fits certain criteria and an employee with at least a year of service encompassing 1250 hours of employment.

I get the feeling you weren't with the company a year. Is that correct?

FMLA also requires a company that fits certain criteria and an employee with at least a year of service encompassing 1250 hours of employment.

I get the feeling you weren't with the company a year. Is that correct?

I mentioned all of that and I agree that the poster does not sound like he/she worked for the company for a year, I guess we will have to wait for the OP to respond to find out.

We were somewhat forced or bribed into signing this document. Shortly after, I went out with a back injury ....
Nope, it does not sound like the OP worked for them for a year. I don't of course know about the short term disability protection if there is any?

I am going to try to answer as many questions as I can...Turbowray.. this was not a work related injury however because of the nature of my injury, working the way I do or did aggrevated my back daily. I have taken the contract to an attorney and the only thing that I could be held up to was a bonus that was given to me in order that I not go work for another dealership within a 100 mile radius. The att. also said that if I was terminated that I could not be held to this contract.. the thing that bothers me is that they are saying I abandoned my job.. I called in daily following what I was told was the policy.. if I could not call in .. my wife did. Now we are being told to prove that we called in, because they have no records of anything.
I worked for this company for a period of about 5 years and yes there are more than 80 employees there. If it would help I can copy paste the agreement to this board..

The real part that gets me is that they did this knowing I needed the insurance and short term disability to be able to get well. Now I either go work somewhere else and hope that I can do that with my back the way it is.. or stay home and hope that my family can survive without my income. I looked into unemployment insurance.. but because of the way they are "terminating" me.. I can't claim that.. and from what I understand I can't get short term disability.. because I must be employed to get benefits.

Please help!!

Don't bother posting the agreement. No one here is going to contradict your attorney.

If you were covered under FMLA, you could not have been fired. You wouldn't have been paid..... but you couldn't have been fired.

The problem is that I havent sent in the paperwork for FMLA. And according to the paperwork I recieved from the company, I was fired July 16. I thought you had like 15 days to file for FMLA. I didnt hire the attorney, however she did look over the contract and told me to go on with the process of filing for FMLA. This of course was before I was informed of being terminated. I guess I should also say that this company is also filing suit against me for hurting thier business and breech of contract to the tune of $10,000. Now if you add this up.. that is 10 grand plus attny fees on both parties, no insurance, no short term, no FMLA, and no way to provide for my family right now.

Okay Chrysler Damsel in distress or if you really prefer Dodgedude, Good and bad news. Bad news you are likely out of the job, but then that could be thought of as good news depending on how you look at it. Good news the telephone company can provide you with a record of all calls made from your phone. Call them and request that they do so and provide your ex-employer with a copy of it highlighting every call that was placed to them between the time you went out with your back injury and the day you received the notice of termination. How much time elapsed between when you sought treatment for your back condition and wasn't at work and when you made the first call to report your condition?

I find it ODD that you were officially terminated the day before your wife was contated, while you were in the hospital, and told to keep in touch with them. What is the date on the paper work sent to you notifying you that you were terminated? You were in esence, through your wife, in the process of applying for FMLA. How many different people did you or your wife talk to on the various occasions that the employer was called? Or was it always the same person?

Have you spoken to a WC attorney about filing a WC claim on your back? Aggravating a pre-exsisting condition is compensable if the aggravation is due to accident/incident or activities done while in the course of and arrising out of work related activities. Have you told any of the doctors that you have been to for the back injury that is was a result of an injury or aggravation sustained on the job? If you have and it is documented then you likely have a valid WC claim for the aggravation to your back injury. This issue will be very time sensitive and needs to be persued ASAP.

I am not sure what the non-compete has to do with any of these other issues. Can you clarify? I am guessing that you are concerned that you can't work at another dealership for a specific amount of time. It seems from your second post that the attorney you seen has put that issue to rest.

As for the unemployment claim, have you actually files one? Has it been denied by the DOL? Where are you getting the information that you are not qualified due to the excuse that the employer gave for your termination?

I would think that since you have seen an attorney that he could have addressed more than the non-compete issues. Things like the legality of them firing you when you were not only eligible for FMLA but also in the process of applying for protection. I believe that you can get this termination overturned if you persue it and want it to be overturned. Or at least get it to the stage of salvaging your much needed benefits. It may only provide 12 weeks of coverage but that is 12 weeks that you still have health insurance and access to STD. You should be eligible to use your STD for whatever period of time your doc has you out of work recovering from the back condition provided it isn't covered under WC.

I get the feeling that there is a piece of the puzzle missing on your issues. Can you enlighten me as to any other issues that would make your situation seem more complete?

I guess I should also say that this company is also filing suit against me for hurting thier business and breech of contract to the tune of $10,000. Now if you add this up.. that is 10 grand plus attny fees on both parties, no insurance, no short term, no FMLA, and no way to provide for my family right now.


Okay you posted while I was typing and this is part of that other piece of the puzzle that we were missing. On what basis are they sueing you for BOC? Have you been working for another dealership or on your own while under the contract with your employer that included the no-compete clause? This would make much of what you have going on make more sense if this is their allegation or what you have actually been doing. None of which changes the requirement that they honor your FMLA. How long were you away from work before your employer was contacted that you were having issues with your back? Did you develop these issues with your back before of after you learned of the law suit for BOC?

What you need to understand is that since you and your company qualified for FMLA, the employer was REQUIRED BY LAW to give you FMLA paperwork and attribute your absenses under FMLA. It was NOT your responsibility to ask for it--it was the responsibility of your employer to give it to you.

However, what did you/your wife tell them when you called out of work? Were they aware that the absenses were for a medical condition? If they were aware of this, they illegally fired you. You need to file a complaint with the DOL.

As far as suing you for BOC, what is their basis? To echo BTDT, have you been working at another dealership?

My advice at this point is to retain a lawyer.

I second that advise JB!

I understand that it is not my responsibility to ask for this paperwork, however, my wife did ask for help in obtaining this paperwork and some regarding short term disability. She was told to download this from the website. They were told information regarding my injuries and that I was both in the hospital and under doctors care. She, when she asked for help, also asked what if anything else do we need to do as far as calling in, making sure that they knew what was going on and was told to just keep them informed on my state.

I really dont understand why they are trying to sue over BOC either... I havent worked anywhere and the information they have is hearsay.... Nothing concrete against me yet this insane crap continues... Saturday I learned of even further bull. One of the people I trained called to see how I was doing and asked if I knew that they had chained my toolbox to the wall so that I could not pick it up. He also told me that they have been calling several people in town to see about picking the locks so that they could get in and see if I stole anything. I own approx $125,000 in tools and tool box. I am here to say that if they do anything to my stuff, I will press charges... real fast like.. This is total bull crap. My wife is worried that if I go up there to pick up my stuff and see this, I might need to be bailed out of jail. If so I will be asking for bond $$$. I have been in contact with an attny who is one of the few Wage and Labor in this town. Thanks for all the insight and please keep our family in your prayers.
Also you can make donations to:: Just kidding.... (at this point)LOL

Your new attorney can write them a letter stating that you will gladly open it up to see if there is any stolen items, but they may not remove anything without you being there. As far as your reaction to anything, you are old enough to stay calm, and let them look like the bad guy. I would also call the local police station, to see if you can go and get your box of tools, with no hassels, or if they should come with you. DO NOT tell the police you will harm them if they do not hand them over. I wish you luck and will pray for you and your family for sure!!!