Legal Question in Medical Leave in Georgia

Re: employment termination

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which protects employees who seek to take a qualifying medical leave of absence, requires that you have been employed for at least 12 months. So, unfortunately, you did not work long enough to be covered under FMLA. Coverage under your former employer's short-term disability plan likely ceased when your employment terminated. You should, however, be able to receive unemployment benefits.

If your former employer had 15 or more employees and your condition constituted a qualifying "disability" under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), then you may have a claim for disability discrimination under the ADA. However, a temporary disability due to surgery is generally insufficient under the ADA.