Legal Question in Employment Law in New Jersey

I wanted to know if I am still elligible to collect unemployment. I was fired over a misunderstanding over F.M.L.A. leave. My wife became extremely ill and I rushed her to the hospital on 12/11/11. They ran a few tests on her and before I left for work was told that they were "pretty sure" that she had a bad case of the flu and that they would probably keep her overnight for observation. I went to work and at the end of my shift (3rd shift) went back to the hospital. I went to Admissions to find out what her room number was and when she would be released and they told me that she was in M.I.C.U. (Medical Intensive Care Unit). I rushed to her room to find out what was going on to find her surrounded by doctors, placed in a medical coma, had a ventilator and feed tube inserted, hooked up to 3 different I.V.'s, and had every monitor known to man hooked up to her. One of the doctors took me to a waiting room while they "cleaned her up" and told me that she had pnemonia and her blood disorder (metabolic ketoacidocis) made things very complicated. The doctor informed me that the hospital knew very little about her blood disorder and that she wanted me to obtain any and all information about what hospitals she went to in the past because if her condition and to also call her mother to see if I could get any other information that might help the doctors out. Luckily, my wife saved some of her medical files from when she was a child and her mother told me about 3 hospitals tht she went to as well. I spent all day by her side and left the hospital to go home and get ready for work. I went to work and told some of my fellow co-workers what was going on and about after an hour of being on the clock was approached by the 3rd shift maintenence man. He asked me, "What are you doing here?" I told him that I was trying to work. He told me that I should be by my wife's side because of the condition that she was in. I told him that I did not have any time left; that I needed to work. He told me that I could leave work because of her medical emergency and that I could use F.M.L.A. I did not know what that was and he told me that I would be allowed to leave work even though I had no time left and would not get fired because of my wife's condition. He also told me that it would be "impossible" for me to be in work considering all that I had on my mind and to "work safely" because I work around moving parts, heavy machinery, chemicals, forklifts, etc. He said that with all that was on my mind, I would either hurt someone around me or myself by accident. He told me to go to the boss and tell him what is going on and that I needed to use F.M.L.A. I went to him and told him everything and he told me to call the 1st shift manager's cell phone and to tell him everything. I called and got his answering machine. I told him everything and that I needed to leave and use F.M.L.A. and I also gave him the telephone number of the M.I.C.U. dept. at the hospital and even gave the "family code" to find out up to the minute information about my wife's condition. I then clocked out, got changed, and went to the hospital. I spent as much time with her as I could until her release on 12/22/11. The doctor that released her told me to "keep an eye on her" for at least the next few days, especially while she was asleep to make sure she was not having any problems breathing. I figured that I could return to work after the Christmas break; on 12/26/11. On 12/24/11, I received a letter from my employer stating that they made a determination to terminate my position as of 12/13/11 because I was not elligible for F.M.L.A. leave. The letter said that I needed to be in work for at least 1 year and I was only there for a little more than 8 months. I was not aware of this and was never told about that when I first left for F.M.L.A. leave by my 3rd shift manager. The only thing he did was wish my wife well. My last pay from my employer was on 12/15/11 and I have not had any income for over 5 weeks. I am suppose to get a call from a Claims Examiner from NJ unemployment on 1/26/12 because, "You may have been seperated for misconduct in connection with your work." I have no idea what to say to the examiner or if I should be elligible for unemployment. Could someone please answer my question? I've lost so much so far since I was laid off in 12/08 from a good paying employer. I'm in the middle of bankruptcy, I've had to "walk away" from my home because I became over 2 years behind on my mortgage, and now this! Can someone please give me some good news? Thanks for any and all replies!

1 Answer from Attorneys

Related Questions & Answers

More Labor and Employment Law questions and answers in New Jersey

Looking for something else?