I have worked at my job for 2 1/2 months. I was very upfront and honest with my boss about my plans to become a surrogate for another couple. I have now requested a day off for a doctors appointment (I have missed 1 other day the entire time of work) and my boss commented to me "I hope there are no hard feelings if we have to let you go for missing too much work"

Can they legally fire me for trying to become pregnant? I haven't missed any work becuase of this, and honestly at this point don't know how much work I would miss for IVF, but my OB has afterhours appointments, so no time off will be needed for that.

There is one other girl in our office and she takes off all the time for personal reasons, (boyfriends court, her own dr appts, skiing in colorado, etc)

Thanks in advance

And how long has she worked there?

7 months. Not enough time to have vacation yet. We have no policies in place for personal time. Its a small offfice- but we have about 50 full time employees, counting our owner and his wife and several supervisors.

Next question; were you actually fired, or was this a warning?

No I haven't been fired, but I have a feeling its coming.

Okay. Here's the thing.

At 2 1/2 months employment, you have zero protected time available to you. They have no legal obligation to allow you to take any time off at all. There is nothing wrong with them warning you that excessive time off will result in termination; in fact, if they didn't warn you and you were fired, there's a reasonable chance that you'd be back here asking if they didn't have to warn you first. ;)

It's not a question of being fired because you're trying to get pregnant. It's a question of being fired for taking excessive time off.

As of right now, you have no legal case for anything. You've suffered no adverse impact; you've only been warned that excessive absences will result in termination.

IF you are fired, at that time it would be necessary to compare how your absences were treated in comparison to other similarly situated employees. They may legally allow employees who have worked there longer than you to take time off even if they don't allow you; they may legally allow employees in other positions to take time off even if they don't allow you. I can think of reasons why all three of the reasons you cite your co-worker as taking time off for, would be acceptable even if your appointments were not (if she were required to be in court as a witness; if her doctor's appointments related to the ADA or a workers comp claim; if the vacation was a negotiated benefit at hire). The law does not require that all employees be treated exactly equal across the board; it requires that differences not be based in a protected characteristic.

Hope this helps.