Q: I was injured off duty. My specialist doctor had given me a note allowing me to return to work.
BUT now my employer is sending me to “their doctor” for an exam to do a “fitness-for-duty determination.” I think this is just a ploy to fire me or force me to not to return to work. Any ideas?
A:
You may be right that your employer is trying to fire you--but that is irrelevant. Your employer has the legal right to find out whether you are "fit for your job" after your non work-related injury.
Why? Because Florida is an “at will” state, which means private employers are free to hire, transfer, promote, demote, suspend, reinstate, fire and rehire employees for any reason at any time, i.e., “at will.” The only thing employers cannot do is make any of these adverse employment decisions based upon the employee’s race, gender, age, handicap, disability, religion, marital status or national origin.
A:
Much more information is needed to determine anything, most of the information required would be information that you would most likely want to keep confidential, like the name of the employer, etc. You should visit the EEOC website to start your research and learn more about the topics as well as the Department of Labor. You may have rights under the ADA or FMLA.
https://www.eeoc.gov/
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