Legal Question in Employment Law in New York

Re: no one present at fireing

You asked: I was fired with no one present in the room. Is that ok?

Answer: It is legal. The law does not require a witness to fire a person.

You asked: Can they fire me for health problems?

Answer: You can be fired for any reason except an illegal reason. In your case, an illegal reason might be if you were fired because of a �disability�. The Americans with Disabilities Act defines a disability �with respect to an individual as . . . a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual� 42 U.S.C.A. � 12102 (2)(A).

According to the EEOC, the term �substantially limits� means, in pertinent part, �[s]ignificantly restricted as to the condition, manner or duration under which an individual can perform a particular major life activity as compared to the condition, manner, or duration under which the average person in the general population can perform that same major life activity.� 29 C.F.R. � 1630.2(j)(1)(ii).

The phrase �Major [l]ife [a]ctivities means functions such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working.� 29 C.F.R. � 1630.2(i).

New York has a statute that defines disability differently. So does New York City. Case law further complicates the issue. But in sum, if you are �disabled� (a very complicated question), AND if you were fired because of your disability(your employer already said ou were not, and you would have to prove that you were), then you may have been fired illegally.

It would also be illegal to fire a person entitled to leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. This law is almost as complicated as the one discussed above.

You said: Their excuse was ''its not working out'' after 4 years at the company.

Answer: This sounds fishy.

I would be happy to discuss the specifics of your case in detail. I can be reached at (914) 949-6323.

Re: no one present at fireing

There is nothing, by itself, improper about firing someone with no one else present in the room. The basic rule about firing employees (with some exceptions I will not go into here) is that an employer may fire an employee for any nondiscriminatory reason. However, as you suggest, there may be a problem if the real reason for your firing was a health issue. Employers may not fire employees because of a disability (though not all health problems are considered "disabilities" under the law) and employers must, under the Family and Medical Leave Act, allow employees time off from work when they have serious health problems (so long as the employer is covered by the Act).

Whether your employer acted properly depends on the circumstances including what exactly your health problem was and whether your employer knew about your health problem (it sounds like they must have since you were in the hospital). I am glad to discuss this mater with you further if you are interested and I do not charge for an initial consultation--I am at 212 867-4754,

Chris Edelson