sdmorris
12-22-2005, 10:09 AM
I am posting this question for my sister who is mildly retarded and 42 years old. I am her POA.
She worked for a large department store for 9 years. Leading up to the final months of her pregnancy her hours were reduced from an average of 35 per week (must average 35 to receive benefits) down to 12 hours. She took her 6-week leave in March. During her leave her 12-year old daughter was abandoned by the father at her home. She returned to work in May and requested a temporary accomodation to work from 10am-3pm. This accomodation would allow my sister to drive her daughter to school and pick her up so she could finish the school year at her current school (6 week accomodation). The manager said no; the store manager said no and my sister was place on an "on call" status and received a letter from the store manager stating this status.
My sister went to the store each week to receive her schedule for 3 months...no hours. The manager told her not to bother coming in, they would call her if they needed her. She lost her benefits (medical) in Sept.
On Oct. 22 she went to the store for glasses and was denied her employee discount. She asked why and was told that she was no longer an employee. I accessed her benefits database on-line to see if we still had access and to see if there was any information to tell us that she was terminated. I only noticed her address (house #'s were mixed up) was incorrect and I submitted a correction. The next day I went to the store with my POA and spoke to the Asst. Manager to inquire if she was terminated; if so why and when did they notify her? I was told she was terminated Sept. 20th and the store has a policy...no show, no call and you are terminated. I stated that she was on an "on call" status and asked if they put her on the schedule knowing that she would call in to know it. I was told they do not have "on call" employees and was told to contact their Legal Dept. if I had any further questions. I called Legal and was told to contact HR. I called HR and gave the above information and told them it appeared to me to be discrimination; that my sister received no notice of termination.
HR investigated and called me back. HR said that they were unaware of the situation surronding her request for reduced hours and that the store manager would call her to discuss possible employment. He called and she returned calls but he never called her back. This all took several weeks. In the meantime I expected that they would send some correspondence regarding her termination, 401K loan, or possibly that she was not considered terminated until she and her store manager spoke, but received nothing.
I managed her 401K and other benefits on-line with her employer. In November a "flag" prompted me to call. I found out that her 401K loan, which I had made payments on, defaulted in October. The Nov. 7th payment I made was not applied because the loan had defaulted in late Oct. and the person who received it did not know how to apply it or what to do with it. It's now early December and the check had not been returned and my siter had not received any notice of termination or loan payment instructions. After further investigation, I was told that the company had an incorrect address for my sister from early Sept. to Oct. 22nd (it was changed in the kiosk at the store) and all correspondence regarding termination, etc. had been mailed to the incorrect address and apparently returned to the company. However, they did have her correct telephone number and I also have a letter from the company dated Sept. 12 that was mailed to my home address (which is considered her permanent address) and the letter shows that they have her correct new address (listed as her temporary address until Sept. 30th). This letter proves they did have her correct address on Sept. 12 and another benefits letter dated Sept. 29th was mailed to the correct home address. After this conversation my sister was mailed a 30-day notice to make a decision about her 401K funds.
So, my question is, does it appear that my sister was wrongfully terminated and does she have any recourse?
She worked for a large department store for 9 years. Leading up to the final months of her pregnancy her hours were reduced from an average of 35 per week (must average 35 to receive benefits) down to 12 hours. She took her 6-week leave in March. During her leave her 12-year old daughter was abandoned by the father at her home. She returned to work in May and requested a temporary accomodation to work from 10am-3pm. This accomodation would allow my sister to drive her daughter to school and pick her up so she could finish the school year at her current school (6 week accomodation). The manager said no; the store manager said no and my sister was place on an "on call" status and received a letter from the store manager stating this status.
My sister went to the store each week to receive her schedule for 3 months...no hours. The manager told her not to bother coming in, they would call her if they needed her. She lost her benefits (medical) in Sept.
On Oct. 22 she went to the store for glasses and was denied her employee discount. She asked why and was told that she was no longer an employee. I accessed her benefits database on-line to see if we still had access and to see if there was any information to tell us that she was terminated. I only noticed her address (house #'s were mixed up) was incorrect and I submitted a correction. The next day I went to the store with my POA and spoke to the Asst. Manager to inquire if she was terminated; if so why and when did they notify her? I was told she was terminated Sept. 20th and the store has a policy...no show, no call and you are terminated. I stated that she was on an "on call" status and asked if they put her on the schedule knowing that she would call in to know it. I was told they do not have "on call" employees and was told to contact their Legal Dept. if I had any further questions. I called Legal and was told to contact HR. I called HR and gave the above information and told them it appeared to me to be discrimination; that my sister received no notice of termination.
HR investigated and called me back. HR said that they were unaware of the situation surronding her request for reduced hours and that the store manager would call her to discuss possible employment. He called and she returned calls but he never called her back. This all took several weeks. In the meantime I expected that they would send some correspondence regarding her termination, 401K loan, or possibly that she was not considered terminated until she and her store manager spoke, but received nothing.
I managed her 401K and other benefits on-line with her employer. In November a "flag" prompted me to call. I found out that her 401K loan, which I had made payments on, defaulted in October. The Nov. 7th payment I made was not applied because the loan had defaulted in late Oct. and the person who received it did not know how to apply it or what to do with it. It's now early December and the check had not been returned and my siter had not received any notice of termination or loan payment instructions. After further investigation, I was told that the company had an incorrect address for my sister from early Sept. to Oct. 22nd (it was changed in the kiosk at the store) and all correspondence regarding termination, etc. had been mailed to the incorrect address and apparently returned to the company. However, they did have her correct telephone number and I also have a letter from the company dated Sept. 12 that was mailed to my home address (which is considered her permanent address) and the letter shows that they have her correct new address (listed as her temporary address until Sept. 30th). This letter proves they did have her correct address on Sept. 12 and another benefits letter dated Sept. 29th was mailed to the correct home address. After this conversation my sister was mailed a 30-day notice to make a decision about her 401K funds.
So, my question is, does it appear that my sister was wrongfully terminated and does she have any recourse?
