Can I be fired due to mental health issues?
Can I be fired from my job due to a mental health issue? If not, I feel that I am being set up to be fired anyway for other fabricated reasons. Do I have any recourse? Also, I recently asked for a copy of all documents in my employee file and was not given all documents. Can documents in my file be withheld from me?
1 answer | asked Oct 25, 2006 8:01 PM [EST] | applies to Arizona
Answers (1)
mental health issues are difficult to analyze
There are two laws that must be considered in answering your question. The Family & Medical Leave Act protects your employment for up to 12 weeks while you are off work due to a "serious health condition." This law only protects your right to take leave without jeopardizing your job. It does not protect you from discrimination on account of the condition itself. Another law, the Americans with Disabilities Act, prohibits discrimination on account of a disability, whether mental or physical, and requires a reasonable accommodation of a disability. However, this law only protects an employee who is qualified to perform the essential functions of the job with the accommodation. Further, the definition of "disability" is much narrower than you might think, and your mental health problem may not meet the definition. Finally, you may be terminated for inappropriate workplace behavior, even if the behavior is a symptom of the disability, if the behavior is too disruptive to be tolerated as an accommodation. You should probably consult an employment attorney to discuss the specifics of your condition and the reasons given for the termination or threat of termination.
There is no law that requires your employer to share employee records with you.
posted by Francis Fanning | Oct 26, 2006 6:05 PM [EST]
There are two laws that must be considered in answering your question. The Family & Medical Leave Act protects your employment for up to 12 weeks while you are off work due to a "serious health condition." This law only protects your right to take leave without jeopardizing your job. It does not protect you from discrimination on account of the condition itself. Another law, the Americans with Disabilities Act, prohibits discrimination on account of a disability, whether mental or physical, and requires a reasonable accommodation of a disability. However, this law only protects an employee who is qualified to perform the essential functions of the job with the accommodation. Further, the definition of "disability" is much narrower than you might think, and your mental health problem may not meet the definition. Finally, you may be terminated for inappropriate workplace behavior, even if the behavior is a symptom of the disability, if the behavior is too disruptive to be tolerated as an accommodation. You should probably consult an employment attorney to discuss the specifics of your condition and the reasons given for the termination or threat of termination.
There is no law that requires your employer to share employee records with you.
posted by Francis Fanning | Oct 26, 2006 6:05 PM [EST]
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