I recently agreed to separate from my previous position after they forced me to go on medical leave.

5 Comments

1. AnonymousAugust 18,2022 at 3:51AM UTC

   It’s hard to say. My gut says this is shady. Because you signed off on the severance there isn’t much you can do legally, but you could get a consultation. Basically 90% of the time once you sign off on the severance you’ve signed away your ability to pursue them legally. In my honest opinion they were probably finding a reason to let you go and when you pushed back on the medical recommendation (which was the right thing to do) they panicked and gave you a package. I’d say they did you a favour. Take a breath, be thankful, and move on with life. You’ll do better.

2. AnonymousAugust 18,2022 at 11:21PM UTC

   Yeah, I know there's not much I can do. I had just never dealt with anything like this, and I wanted some perspective. Thanks!

3. AnonymousAugust 18,2022 at 1:39PM UTC

   It really all depends. For example, if the medical condition caused you to be unable to perform the essential functions of the job, and any possible accommodations still would not have made it possible, and if it was not a temporary condition for which you’d recover, then giving you a bit of severance to resign might be the best scenario for both parties. Otherwise it’s a long drawn out process for you to say go on FMLA, then after that exhausts, you go on some form of other leave, but your job probably isn’t protected at that point. Without being able to work to their parameters, you more than likely wouldn’t be able to collect unemployment either - because you usually have to be able to work to collect. That’s just one long example of where this matter wouldn’t have been shady. But without knowing all the details on both sides, it’s hard to say.

4. AnonymousAugust 18,2022 at 11:20PM UTC

   OP here, I was able to perform the essential job functions and was healing well as it was a temporary injury.
   I was at about 85% of my normal ability, and at that point, my only limitations were no heavy lifting and I needed to walk slowly. I should note that they never met with me personally to discuss my injury and my healing progress, just took the word of a supervisor I was having issues with for months, and who was the subject of the difficult conversation we had. My injury was only severe enough to cause me to be unable to work at all for about 1.5 weeks, and I was lucky enough to already have 1 week scheduled off to heal, and I had plenty of PTO to cover the rest of the time that I was not able to physically work.

   edit: I had been back at work a full two weeks before they decided I needed to go on disability insurance.

5. AnonymousAugust 18,2022 at 1:53PM UTC

   When people are having significant health issues, it pretty commonly impacts multiple aspects of their performance. It's difficult to do a good job even with accommodations when you're in pain, spending all day (on the clock) managing medical appointments or insurance, or just so stressed from everything that you can't focus.

   FMLA is helpful to a point, but all it does is guarantee your job isn't given away for 12 weeks (or an equivalent position is offered upon your return for mission-critical roles). It doesn't guarantee pay, compassion, or anything else. ADA covers some types of limitations - permanent or temporary - but also doesn't actually require an employer to accommodate you if they can justify why requested accommodations don't meet the "reasonable" standard for a particular position. ADA doesn't apply if the employee is just not doing a good job, even if it's within the context of their disability.

   Without specifics, it's difficult to know if there is anything actionable in this scenario. As already mentioned, once you sign the severance agreement, your options are typically limited unless there is something fraudulent in the paperwork.

   You would probably be better off looking for a position that is clearly within the scope of your current limitations. Best of luck to you.