Q: Can a manager legally hold a berevment leave against a co worker?
So my wife is a supervisior for a department at a hospital. So, in March she went out on leave because her dad was dying and returned back in late July. While she was out, her boss allowed the workers to pretty much do whatever they wanted and didnt hold them accountable for anything. Now that my wife is back, my wife is trying to fix all the fires that was set when she was gone but not only that, now the workers dont listen to what she says. So, in search of getting support, she goes to her manager and all her manager does is either blow it off or says she needs to establish " competency" , so my wife went to another manager to see if she could help and my wifes boss told the other boss to not help her. So , we are starting to think that my wifes boss is punishing her for being out on bereavement. Is there anything we can legally do or are we just stuck?
A: There isn't really anything to be done in this situation from a legal standpoint. It is unfortunate that your wife is being placed in a difficult situation and is without assistance from her manager but I don't see anything unlawful here based on the facts presented. Was your wife taking care of her father for any period of time? If she was, her leave may be FMLA-qualifying. It would be unlawful to take any FMLA-qualifying leave into account in an adverse employment action, i.e., a termination. Hope this helps.
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