Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in California

I have been working for a small business company for about 6 months now as a customer service representative, might i add I've been working hard for them and completed task accordingly, they have never given me any warnings or have told me i am not doing a good job. out of the 6 months that I've worked there i have only missed 2 days, on December 13,2010 and January 31,2011 the reason for those dates is because i had to attend court for a non related case which my boss was completely OK with me missing those dates, plus i gave her documentation proving i had to attend court. well long story short i recently had to call in sick on February 17,2011 i felt completely ill and i knew if i went in to work i would just be coughing and sneezing as i was on the day before February 16,2011. on February 16,2011 i left 15 minutes early because i felt to sick, my boss gave me permission to go home and told me to "get better, call me if anything". So i did call her the next day and told her i had felt worst and wouldn't be able to come in. she accepted and said OK but then called me 2 hours later asking me if i can come in for the remaining of the day, i replied " i will try, but i still feel sick and i just took some medicine that makes me drowsy, ill call you in about an hour and let you know". so i did call her back in an hour and told her I'm sorry but i just feel too ill to come in she replied with an angry tone " fine, forget about it goodbye" . A few hours later 20 minutes before closing time one of my co-workers call me and tell me that Mr. Kermani (which is my boss's husband) say not to come in until Tuesday(February 22,2011), i ask why ? i feel a lot better and am ready to go in to work tomorrow, she replied i don't know why? he just told me to call you and tell you don't come I'm suspended until Tuesday. Please inform me on what are my rights, they were shorthanded and i guess upset because i did'nt come in to work, but i simply couldn't i was very ill. can they lawfully suspend me for being sick? please advice what are my rights and can i sue them.


Asked on 2/18/11, 11:26 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

There are no laws against 'unfair treatment' or poor management. In general, unless an employee is civil service, in a union, or has a written employment contract, they are an 'at will' employee that can be disciplined or fired any time for any reason, with or without �cause�, explanation or notice, other than for illegal discrimination, harassment or retaliation under the ADA disability, Civil Rights [age, race, sex, ethnic, religion, pregnancy, etc], Whistle-blower, or similar statutes. The employee's goal should be to keep the employer happy. Now if the firing was illegal under those definitions, feel free to contact me. Taking sick days is NOT protected by the disability laws.

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Answered on 2/18/11, 1:20 pm


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