All too often I’ve seen strong, outstanding employees fired after taking medical leave. Workers with stellar histories can be iced out, targeted for write-ups and performance improvement plans, and subjected to other retaliation actions. Frequently, these actions are pretextual, with supervisors papering up a track record and covering their trail on the way to firing an employee for taking medical leave.

Many forms of medical leave are protected, including OFLA (the Oregon Family Leave Act) and FMLA (the Family and Medical Leave Act). While OFLA and FMLA may provide a set period of time off or payment while on leave, legal protections may extend past those dates.

Employers can target employees for a variety of reasons. They may be concerned (sometimes falsely) that the employee will take more time off in the future. They may be think an employee should just “power through it” and keep working when they have pressing medical issues. Or they may just be annoyed that an employee chose to use the rights available to them, and seek to push them out.

Retaliation includes being put on a Performance Improvement Plan (“PIP”) after you come back from work. It might look like sudden write-ups and nitpicking of your performance at work. Especially when you’ve worked at the same company for years without disciplinary issues, being fired after taking medical leave might result in you having a strong claim against your employer.

Many cases have short deadlines to file a complaint, so it is important to talk to an attorney today. Give Steve a call, day or night, at 503-568-1267, or send an email to steve@elzielaw.com. I’ll do my best to reach out to you as soon as possible.