Q: My former boss told me that I could not take off work for surgery and/or treatment for my cancer.
The business I use to work for only had 5-6 employees and i can't seem to find anything that says he has to let me off work because he doesn't have to grant FMLA, even though I had a doctor's note, he told me that I was not allowed to take time off work. It got brought up later on, and he said he never knew that I even had cancer, even though I came straight to him and told him about it. I also was forced to work from home at that time and I felt like he was trying to find a reason to fire me for taking time off work, when i was recovering from surgery for cancer.
A: More information is needed to analyze your situation. As you mentioned, the Family Medical Leave Act - which provides job protection for medical leaves in some circumstances - does not apply to your employer because the business only employs 5-6 employees. Your cancer diagnosis would render you a disabled individual under the law; however, your employer is not subject to the mandates of the Americans with Disabilities Act if it employees less than 15 employees. Thus, your protection, if any, would come from state discrimination laws. You should contact an attorney who practices employment law in Missouri to discuss your situation in more detail and determine if your employer failed to accommodate you or discriminated against you on the basis of a disability.
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