Legal Question in Medical Leave in Tennessee

Re: Rights under FMLA

If you have not used up all of your FMLA leave, then they cannot discipline you for taking the leave. There is no such thing as the "labor board" the best thing for you to do is request the final warning be recended. If they do not do so, contact an FMLA attorney to take legal action.

Re: Rights under FMLA

If you were eligible for FMLA leave, then it is improper for an employer to discipline you for the leave you took. At this point you have at least three options. First, you can make a complaint to the Department of Labor (the only "labor board" is the National Labor Relations Board and they do not have jurisdiction over this type of dispute). Second, you can deal directly with your employer and ask them to rescind your earlier discipline. Third, you can spend some time with an attorney who handles FMLA cases to discuss how best to protect your rights going forward.

Right now, you have not suffered any economic injury from the employer's action. However, if the final warning stays in your file, presumably the next discipline will result in termination. At that point, you will be on the outside with no income trying to get your job back. In this case, an ounce of prevention may be worth a pound of cure.

For more information about the FMLA, you can visit my website, www.memphisemploymentlawyer.net, or you can visit the Department of Labor's website, www.dol.gov. If you have further questions about your FMLA rights, you can click on one of the links on my website to contact me directly.