i am employed at a small independent pharmacy in wellington Florida....i just recently was terminated due to my daughter being in the hospital due to severe infections.....and potential loss of hearing! he stopped payin me while i was gone. i am a single mother and completely out of my control with her sickness! he is now fighting unemployment....and asked me to not mention we do not get lunch breaks or breaks at all! don't i have some sort of rights that protect me when my daughter needs to be hospitalized for her illnesses!if i do not take care of her needs....then social services is called in....stuck between a rock and a hard place! what do i do? and can he bad-mouth me to my new employers?
Becca

Unfortunately, if your employer has less than 50 employees in a 75 mile radius, you don't have any rights protecting you against job loss due to excessive absenteeism caused by a sick child. And, yes, he can try to fight unemployment. However, you will want to make sure you are at the hearing with any proof of the reason for your absence, such as hospital bills, etc. That may assist you in winning your case. If you lose the hearing, then appeal and try again.

He can give information about you to prospective employers, so long as what he is saying is factual.

Let me know if you have any other questions.