Hello everyone...I posted the below statement about a month ago. My wife and her boss was at ends with each other and I tried explaining it, but it seems that what I was saying wasn't a problem. Anyways a new topic has came up and that is my wife was suspended from work for 2 weeks due to her asthma medicine. Her boss said the medication my wife was on altered the mind and that my wife couldn't work while using the medication...now let me explain #1 my wife only uses the cough medicine before she go to sleep my wife was told by her boss to either stop using the medication or loss her job # 2 The doctor wrote a statement to her boss saying that the medication does not have that side effect. My wife tried to give the statement to her boss, but her boss said she didn't want to see it and that her lawyer advised her that it did have a side effect of altering the mind. That following week my wife received a phone call at home before leaving for work from her boss saying a client has advised her "the boss" that she knwe my wife and that my wife had tried to sell her crack!!!! my wife had a meeting with her boss this morning and they terminated my wife employment due to the accusation. Now I know for a fact that this is 100% false. My wife boss has been trying to make my wife quit and my was wasn't leaving uless she was fired, but this is going to far. This statment will ruin my wife character...is there something that we can do?









My wife works for a Drug rehab and is having problems with the person who owns the company. Theres so many things, but I'll keep it short and most recent. My wife had to go out of work due to her asthma and being hospitalized for 6 days and the doctor placed her out for 3 weeks and 3 days. Also the doctor had faxed the employer/owner all paper work and a description of a mask my wife has to wear while at work. The owner told my wife she would have the mask when my wife returns to work. While my wife was out she received a written warning letter stating she voilated NC "unethical law" by receiving a flyer from a client promoting home improvement. My wife took the flyer and gave it to her mother who do not live with us and her mother had the guy fix a few things at her house, but the same guy does work at the drug rehab my wife works at. My wife return to work this Sunday and was told the owner could not find the mask the doctor requested and to use another style of mask. My wife aksed the owner if she would like a sample of the mask from the doctor she could get it. The owner then replied if you can get a sample from the doctor to go ahead and use that one cause the only one she "owner" could find was the one she gave my wife. Also my wife and others have said that the owner talks to them in a rude manner and uses profanity at times. Also each time my wife is due to be released off probationary status she get's written up for something for an example...my wife was written up for not dusting a vase and this was a few days before her probation status was to be lifted.

Is any of this legal and ethical?

Why would the employer be responsible for providing the mask the doctor prescribed?

Is the handy man a patient?

Well, DOES your wife have a history of being rude and using occasional profanity?

Promoting a client's business is most definitely a conflict of interest. Passing the flyer on to another party who then hires them is just that.

If your wife can get the mask she needs from the doctor, then she should do so.

Being rude and using profanity are not illegal.

My wife didn't promote the handy man company well I guess she kind of did, but she thought she was doing him a favor by taking the flyer and helping out a client in need of work. The handy man use to be a client, but isn't now. My wife doesn't use profanity and wouldn't use it at work. The doctor said my wife asthma is acting up due to chemicals being used to clean in the building. How come an employer can use profanity and nothing happens and if an employee does it they're fired!!!

Oh...and no one responded concerning that the same handy man was working in the building while he was a client...THAT should be considered conflict.

I'm still not understanding why you (or your wife, for that matter) would think that it is her employer's responsibility to provide your wife with a special mask that the doctor prescribed.:confused:

The boss gets to talk however s/he wants because....s/he is the boss (with the caveat that there are no illegalities occurying during these talks). It may not be fair, but then, a lot of things aren't necessarily 'fair'.

You don't know the circumstances of the handy man's involvement at the clinic (or whatever you want to call it.) It could be that he was doing repairs and upkeep as a form of payment for his care.

That said, if your wife just wanted to help this man (which I don't doubt :) ), she should have first cleared it with her supervisor to make sure there was no conflict.

Even if there WAS a conflict with the man working at the clinic, that still does not erase your wife's actions.

Ok correct me if I'm wrong...my employee hurt his back and the doctor requested I get all employees doing the same job back support if I refuse to get a safety item as the back support and another or same employee gets hurt why wouldn't I be at fault. As an employee shouldn't all companies be responsible for thier workers safety. My wife clinic is ran by NC state and city laws what makes a drug rehab different then any other facility being ran by state or city laws and requirements?

And I don't belive someone can talk to anyone as they please just because they're the boss...ever heard of verbal abuse?

Back to the mask...if the doctor requested to the owner that the chemicals being used in her facility is dangerous and should not be used and the owner continues to use them and someone gets sick or worse dies you mean to tell me that the owner will not be at fault?

To my understanding, (and I know someone will correct me if I am wrong) back supports are an occupational issue with safety guidelines as laid out by OSHA.

Your wife has an illness that is NOT brought on or caused by her employment and hazzards at work (aside from the regular cleaning chemicals that are found in virtually every building). Her doctor told her she needed a special mask to help keep irritants out of her lungs. Your wife can apparently get a sample from her doctor. I suggest she do so. It is not your wife's employer's responsibility to look after your wife's health.

Yes, her boss may speak to her in a rude or snide tone. As long as it is not crossing the line of illegal discrimination, it's perfectly legal. In addition, your wife can speak to her boss in any manner she pleases (or anyone else for that matter). It's NOT illegal. The difference is that your wife has no power or authority to correct that behavior, whether it be a warning, write up, or termination. Her boss does.

Her doctor made a comment (diagnosis?) as it pertains to your WIFE'S health. A doctor's note or recommendation has no power in the workplace.

If your wife needs the mask, she should get it from her doctor (as you clearly stated she could) or go to a med. supply store and stock up.

Is it the employer's responsibililty to keep a supply of rescue inhalers on hand as well? See where I am going with this?

You are wrong. Verbal abuse, unless it targets your wife because she is a member of a protected class, isn't illegal. It certainly isn't professional and certainly isn't the way I conduct business, but it isn't illegal.

All employers will make accomodations to their employees as necessary. A reasonable accomodation would be to allow your wife to wear a mask during work. I don't see why it would be the employer's responsibility to provide them.

After all, if your wife broke her leg, would you expect the employer to hand her a crutch every morning?

It is unreasonable to expect the employer to change out the chemicals they use to clean because one person from all the clients and employees complain. Especially when there is a work around (the mask).

A doctor's recommendation does not have the force of law. That note alone is not enough to make illegal the actions discussed.

A doctor is not going to recommend something like a back brace for employees he has never seen. Assuming one did, it would not change the employer's liability for future accidents. The injuries would still fall under WC exclusively and neither presence nor absence of a back brace is going to change that.

The employer decides the rules. "Verbal abuse" is not a recognized tort in employment law. Unless he i ssingling out employees for this treatment based on a legally protected characteristic, ad even then only if the treatment is severe and or pervasive enough to alter the terms and conditions of employment, is it actionable. Being a jerk and using foul language is not illegal.

Unless this employer is using arsenic to clean or some other inappropriate substance, they do not have to change their cleaning supplies because one employee has a reaction to them. They offered her a mask to use. They need not have the exact one her doctor recommends. If she can get what she needs from her doctor, why is it such a big deal?

Thanks for all the replies...but I disagree just a little on the mask situation. I'm bless to have never needed a lawyer for a job related issue, but now I see why most cases go cold and dismissed. The workers don't have many rights unless you're a women and someone says you're pretty and then BOOM! your in court being sued for sexual harassment. Thanks again I'll advise my wife to look else where for employment.

Thanks for all the replies...but I disagree just a little on the mask situation. I'm bless to have never needed a lawyer for a job related issue, but now I see why most cases go cold and dismissed. The workers don't have many rights unless you're a women and someone says you're pretty and then BOOM! your in court being sued for sexual harassment. Thanks again I'll advise my wife to look else where for employment.
Huh??? What's that got to do with anything?

Good luck to your wife. Hopefully, her health stabilizes, if not improves.

A woman who is told she is pretty would not have a case for sexual harassment. Not without a heck of a lot more going on.

Feel free to post a link to the law that requires the employer to provide the mask the doctor recommends.

If the chemicals used to clean the workplace are causing the wife to have an allergic reaction or an asthma attack, then she may have a viable workers' comp claim under NC law for an occupational disease under NCGS 97-53(13). Contact dermatitis, occupational asthma and similar claims due to chemical and fumes exposure have been successful in NC. Not sure these facts will be strong enough to win, though. But those cases typically settle.

If she files an OSHA complaint over the mask situation, or files a work comp claim, and then they fire her or take some other action against her, then she will have developed an additional claim or two under the NC REDA law as well.

But I would also suggest that she get the mask from another source, and wear it, and try to make the best of the situation while she looks for a new job.

And I agree that talking ugly to her and cussing her is not actionable, either.
Unprofessional, for sure, but not illegal at this point. Although over time it could develop into another work comp claim (stress), but that is a pretty tenuous and hard to prove claim.

Hello everyone...I posted the below statement about a month ago. My wife and her boss was at ends with each other and I tried explaining it, but it seems that what I was saying wasn't a problem. Anyways a new topic has came up and that is my wife was suspended from work for 2 weeks due to her asthma medicine. Her boss said the medication my wife was on altered the mind and that my wife couldn't work while using the medication...now let me explain #1 my wife only uses the cough medicine before she go to sleep my wife was told by her boss to either stop using the medication or loss her job # 2 The doctor wrote a statement to her boss saying that the medication does not have that side effect. My wife tried to give the statement to her boss, but her boss said she didn't want to see it and that her lawyer advised her that it did have a side effect of altering the mind. That following week my wife received a phone call at home before leaving for work from her boss saying a client has advised her "the boss" that she knwe my wife and that my wife had tried to sell her crack!!!! my wife had a meeting with her boss this morning and they terminated my wife employment due to the accusation. Now I know for a fact that this is 100% false. My wife boss has been trying to make my wife quit and my was wasn't leaving uless she was fired, but this is going to far. This statment will ruin my wife character...is there something that we can do?




My wife works for a Drug rehab and is having problems with the person who owns the company. Theres so many things, but I'll keep it short and most recent. My wife had to go out of work due to her asthma and being hospitalized for 6 days and the doctor placed her out for 3 weeks and 3 days. Also the doctor had faxed the employer/owner all paper work and a description of a mask my wife has to wear while at work. The owner told my wife she would have the mask when my wife returns to work. While my wife was out she received a written warning letter stating she voilated NC "unethical law" by receiving a flyer from a client promoting home improvement. My wife took the flyer and gave it to her mother who do not live with us and her mother had the guy fix a few things at her house, but the same guy does work at the drug rehab my wife works at. My wife return to work this Sunday and was told the owner could not find the mask the doctor requested and to use another style of mask. My wife aksed the owner if she would like a sample of the mask from the doctor she could get it. The owner then replied if you can get a sample from the doctor to go ahead and use that one cause the only one she "owner" could find was the one she gave my wife. Also my wife and others have said that the owner talks to them in a rude manner and uses profanity at times. Also each time my wife is due to be released off probationary status she get's written up for something for an example...my wife was written up for not dusting a vase and this was a few days before her probation status was to be lifted.

Is any of this legal and ethical?

If she was only taking the medicine at home before bed, how would her employer even know that she was on it? If she was having problems at work while on it, I can well imagine her employer requesting that she not take it while working. If she is working in a drug rehab facility, I can also see the potential for problems if she is carrying certain medications with her and the need to ensure that these are kept securely out of the reach of clients.

If a client advised the boss that your wife was dealing drugs, then yes, they can fire her. Her case if any would be against the addict/client who made the false statement, not the employer. An allegation of that type is extremely serious and her employer is not required to take the chance that the client is lying.

With so many issues it may be worth a consult with a lawyer. I don't see much to form a case against the employer but I only have part of the story.

When my wife came home from the hospital my wife boss asked for a list of medication she would be taking...and my wife did just that. To make a long story short is like this.

Please note I'm not saying that the company or boss is obligated to do anything.

The boss is known to hire people and either fire them or make it so bad people would quit before the probation status is over...saving her not to pay unemployment benefits. And she tried to make my wife quit, but was not able to.

1. My wife was being written up at the end of each time her probation status was up...not cleaning a vase, someone said she was sleeping, taking mind altering medication,speaking out in a meeting, selling crack!!!! etc.

2. Knowing my wife and I share a car changing her hours, but we work that out and she still made it to work

3. Asking my wife to stop using her medication or lose her job, we received a doctors note saying that not to be true.

Every write up my wife received she took and moved on and at every probation end status time she received another write up for something as simple as a stain on the floor or the car is leaking oil in the parking lot.

It is documented that a client reported that the boss and her husban tried to sell them drugs, but nothing happend to them...they're still doing business? WOW.

The point is that my wife is a hard and dedicated worker that was clearly being harassed by a boss using loop holes in the employment laws. Now my wife is out of a job and I'm a 100% sure the boss will fight her unemployment with all the write up's from the 1st one of not cleaning a vase to the last one of selling crack...selling crack!!!!!!This doesn't sound suspect to anyone but me? Saying my wife sells or sold crack is like saying the Pope is a gang banger!!!! it's a lie!!! I understand it's a drug rehab, but that should be a good enough reason to make sure the accusation is true.

I don't know your wife. I don't know how likely anything is. All I know is an allegation that an employes is selling crack is going to be seen as very serious.

So should the allegation that the employer has tried the same should've been taking serious and closed them down...just like my wife was fired the same should have been done to the rehab.

Oh and you don't know the Pope either,:)

If your wife is the Pope, we have issues.

What should have happened to the owners or those in different roles at a different time under different circumstances is completely irrelevant. "Should" is subjective.

Of course there is a big chance that the employer made up the allegation as a pretext to fire her for some illegal reason.

All this stuff with the medications and masks, sounds like a ADA issue.

Sorry, but what's ADA?

And what do we need to do if it's an ADA issue?

I just looked up the meaning of ADA...thanks!!!