Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Ohio

Re: refusal to give family illness leave and refusing to give vation check

Your post assumes that you are covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act (�FMLA�), i.e., your employer has at least 50 employees and you have worked at least 1250 hours for that employer over the past 12 months (if these criteria are not met and you are employed in Ohio, then you have no legal right to medical leave to care for a family member).

The FMLA requires advance notice by the employee only when the need for leave is foreseeable. When it is not foreseeable (e.g., because of a medical emergency), then the employee is required to notify the employer �as soon as practicable�. The employer cannot require two weeks notice for unforeseen medical emergencies. Thus, depending on additional facts not posted, your FMLA rights may have been violated.

In most case, employers are prohibited from withholding wages for property damage. Under both Ohio and Federal law (the Fair Labor Standards Act, �FLSA�), an employer may not withhold wages if doing so reduces the wages below the minimum wage for that pay period. Additionally, under Ohio law, regardless of how the damage was caused, employers may not withhold wages for property damage unless the employer has an express contract with the employee allowing the withholding of wages to compensate the employer for property damage.

I strongly advise that you consult with an attorney; many will provide an initial consultation at no charge. Additionally, as several of the laws potentially implicated allow for a prevailing plaintiff to recover his/her attorneys fees, you may be able to find an attorney willing to assist you on a contingency basis. As your zip code indicates that you are located in Southern Ohio, you may want to contact one of the bar associations nearby such as the Warren County Bar Association or the Cincinnati Bar Association to inquire whether they have a referral service through which they can refer you to an appropriate attorney. As to the potential violations of the FMLA and FLSA, as a last resort, you can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor without an attorney. However, you would be better served retaining an attorney who can handle all of your potential claims particularly since the Department of Labor is unlikely to deem your FMLA and FLSA claims as a high priority.