I live in Arizona. Yesterday I was terminated. I was told it was for being out of the office yesterday as well as the day before. Not only did I have the flu, and go to the hospital, but so did my children. When I went in to clean out my desk, there was a journal written by my boss on my desk. (which is right next to his, I'm sure that he did not expect me to come in to clean it out) The journal had no title or visable evidence of what it was on the outside, I opened it up and dated three days before I was absent it said. " I'm going to let my assistant go. She is pregnant anyway, and will have to be off for 6 weeks." I made a copy of this, took my things, and put it exactly where it had been left on my desk.
My question is would this be a legal case of discrimination in AZ, or can he get away with it because I was absent? He had no other reason for firing me, and gave me no prior warnings or reprimands. He had never complained about my work.

Interesting. It sounds like he terminated you for excessive absenteeism (in his opinion), rather than for your pregnancy. While his writing is distasteful, when he says that you were going to take time off "anyway" indicates that he had planned to terminate you for other reasons. Of course, even with that in mind, you may always file a charge with the US EEOC. (Your employer must have employed 15 people or more through the year in order for to qualify as a covered employer under federal discrimination law. Arizona doesn't have its own law protecting pregnancy.)

Best of luck to you.

I just wanted to respond in regards to the earlier postings. At this time I have filed a charge with the EEOC, and they, along with my attourney have indicated that I have a very strong case due to the evidence. I do not want to sound rude, but the advice that you gave me was very misleading. I almost didn't file the case. I think that you should be very careful in how you word your responses. I also think that other readers should check with a couple of attourneys in their area before they take your advice. When you geniunely feel that you have been treated wrongly, and you have proof, I encourage all of you to seek advice from more than just this site.

I agree that people should not rely solely on this site when they feel that they are a victim of discrimination. Also, it will be very interesting to learn what happens on your case, when it is all said and done.

Good luck and keep us informed.

Sometimes when our minds is saturated or not knowing any rights of law, being powerless in mind, We needs people advice or from those who may have Better / Basic expieriences to helps Or Guided us...naturally We dont Take Or absorbed - Whole Of Its Directly into our minds Or action taken promptly Or Being Conclusion Of A Case , By Rely On General Advice Without Reconsidering Of Various Facts By Oneself,from various Sources Or Aspects,...its Mainly For A Primary Or Generally Advice- Knowledge, Common Senses Or reconsidering the first Platforms to gains Or Learn Something or guided oneself....rather than Nothing. As a nuts,... I Always have no hard feelings or Blaming others who always lent their Kind hand /Advice... :) :cool:

FYI Pregnancy Discrimination Act
http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-preg.html
I know there is debate about why you were fired, but I think your note shows enough premeditation that a jury would take it seriously. You may also want to make sure that you are not required to file with a state agency and the EEOC, and make sure you have filed the right charges.
It sounds like your employer figures he has to let you be out sick being pregnancy and he does under the pregnancy Discrimination Act in terms of treating you as other employees under sick and disability work rules, then FMLA time post-birth. And he figures too that he does not want to deal with that. There is at-will employment, so it is just going to be hard to see hwo this unfolds, but good luck. I hope you have a good attorney who can get you a good settlement. I am not saying this may not go to court, but it may take some time.

Hope I'm posting correctly. I'll try to make a long story short. 1st, please direct me to the laws of NJ or Federal laws that govern NJ for small companies. Mine has 18 employees and therefore not subject to COBRA or FMLA. All employees in the past have been given medical coverage maintained as it was prior to their maternity related disability or other related disability. I am having a complicated pregnancy, had surgery to maintain pregnancy and returned to work only to fall apart 3 weeks later, forcing my doctor (perionatologist) to put me on Disability to try to get me to a safe week to have the baby, as close to 32 weeks as possible. I'm 5 months now. 2 weeks into being disability, my company of 18 sends a very brief letter stating that they cannot continue to carry my medical coverage while I'm out on disability. That under NJ Small Group Law they are not required to do so. But they will advise me that I can continue the covergage by paying my usual "employee contribution" + what what they were covering as my employer, prior to my disabiltiy totaling $950.00 per months. They gave me only 9 days to decide, my coverage they say will end as of June 30th 11:59pm. Also, in their letter, they suggested that I seek coverage under my husband's policy at his job, but in any case they can't cover me. Every other person that has gone out on disability, has only had to maintain the employee contribution of the medical coverage. The only difference in me, is that I'm having a complicated pregnancy and will probably require more time off. What laws can help me in NJ with a small mean heartless company like this. To leave me flat on my back with 3 kids, and a high risk pregnancy and no medical coverage for either in 9 days???? This seems to vioate my civil rights, under pregnancy as well as nature of my disability. I have been with the company for 14 months, was just given a bonus in December and a sizeable merit raise in April, prior to finding out that I was pregnant. Also, they have not mentioned termination--but who knows. They, flat out told me prior to leaving (office mgr.) that they will not hire anyone else because they would like to have me back. This was also repeated at a group meeting that the secy's would have to rotate the front desk, until they know for sure whether or not I will return, which is projected to be as long as December of this year.

How, can I quickly use any laws available to me to defend myself and family from becoming uninsured. We have salary, but can't afford the $950.00 to maintain coverage and due to the fact that we have salary, we do not qualify for Medicaid or Welfare related medical coverage. What specialist or doctor is going to see me during this high risk pregnancy, when I won't have coverage. Husband company said not a qualifying event as we are not loosing our coverage due to loss of benefits due to termination. But, that we are electing to take there coverage because its a cheaper plan. That we are electing not to continue our coverage, which is voluntary???
acalli

First of all, if they purposely changed the plan because of your pregnancy, they would be violating federal anti-discrimination laws on the basis of pregnancy. You can read about that at: http://www.eeoc.gov/types/pregnancy.html

However, to be honest, this is a long process and while you can and should file a complaint if you feel that your company has discriminated against you, it probably won't be resolved until after the birth of your child.

Your immediate problem is the insurance coverage. Your husband's plan won't let you on the plan because you currently have insurance or the opportunity to continue it. Getting your physician to put you on disability for an extended period of time and getting your employer to terminate your employment (since they do not have to hold your job) may be your best option. Your employer may go along with it.

If you leave your job voluntarily, you will not be eligible for unemployment. (However, you wouldn't be anyway in a few months...because you will be out on maternity leave.)

When you are no longer able to hold your job, you will no longer have insurance and your husband's plan will need to permit you to be added to the plan. Note: It is critical that you don't have any breaks in coverage, even if you have to pay for the more expensive coverage for a month. This is because of HIPAA - a person who has continuous coverage will be able to go to another plan without worrying about coverage of pre-existing conditions.

Another benefit is that you can apply for NJ Disability benefits. (NJ is one of the few states in the country with this type of program.) You can read about it at: http://www.nj.gov/labor/tdi/preg.html

Be sure to read through all of the material and talk with the state before you take any moves.

Sorry to be a pain: I have applied and am going to eventually receive disability in about 3 to 4 weeks, as they have just filled out the employer portion of my papers and just mailed them out on tuesday.

But, I'm really confused at how to actually post my message to the board. I've looked at the laws and they don't have a lot of anything on small businesses and and this federal law as it relates to "maintenance of medical coverage" Could you please post my other long message for me. I am so glad you saw my message out there. Because I have no clue as to how to post to the board.

Thanks a billion for your advice. And yes the state warned me about letter the coverage lapse and we are a family with lots of pre-existing conditions.

I'm not sure if I understand your request. In any case, the continuation of coverage from your former employer is through COBRA. A summary of COBRA may be found at: http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/health-plans/cobra.htm NOTE: COBRA applies to employers with 20 or more employees. Your employer is smaller but they did offer to let you continue coverage at your expense. That is the same benefit (without the 2% administrative cost) of COBRA.

The waiver of pre-existing conditions may be found at: http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/health-plans/portability.htm