Should I talk to a lawyer about my termination...?

My ex-employer terminated me, saying it was a ‘reduction of force,’ but they sent the notice while I was on FMLA leave. They timed my termination for when my FMLA ended, but my doctor had put me on short-term disability, and they knew about it. I had also made an internal complaint about discrimination before going on leave, and HR never followed up with me. Should I be speaking to a lawyer about this? Has anyone else gone through something similar?

That sounds rough… I think you should definitely talk to a lawyer, especially if they ignored your discrimination complaint. FMLA gives you protections too, right?

Yeah, FMLA protects employees, but I’m not sure about the details. That’s why I’m thinking I should get legal advice.

FMLA does give protection, especially if they fired you while you were on leave. Talking to a lawyer sounds like a smart move.

Did they give any other reason besides ‘reduction of force’? Seems sketchy to time it with the end of your leave.

Nope, just ‘reduction of force.’ And yeah, it felt really off since I was still on disability.

Same thing happened to me a few years ago… they timed my layoff with my medical leave ending. I went to a lawyer, and we ended up settling out of court.

Wow, that sounds super similar! Did your lawyer say anything about how strong your case was?

Yeah, they said it was pretty strong since the timing looked like retaliation. I think you should at least get a consultation.

When you made the discrimination complaint, did HR actually do anything? Ignoring that might be a big deal.

They said they’d follow up but never did… I even told my employer, and they didn’t respond.

Definitely sounds like retaliation. I’d go to a lawyer ASAP and maybe file something with the EEOC too.

Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that. Guess I should look into it soon!