[olimpiot]

On February 12, 2012, I was hurt on the job, lacerating my right hand pinky finger. I was taken to the E.R. were Dr. ,,,,, performed micro surgery to reattach the tendon. About a week later, during the night, my tendon broke again, therefore, resulting in another surgery to reattach it. I was prescribed hand therapy 3x a week, and follow-up doctor visits every 3 to 4 weeks.
On July 2, 2012, I was able to return to work with full capabilities. I then developed carpal tunnel and 2 trigger fingers on right hand due to scar build up from previous surgery. On Nov. 29 the surgeon scheduled these surgeries at the same time to correct the problems. The doctor's note stated that I would be able to return to work with full duties, by the end of January 2013. I was terminated January 9, 2013 for having exhausted my days of family leave.
When I first got hurt, my employer mailed me a folder of papers to sign, “FMLA” , telling me that Worker’s compensation and FMLA work together, one pays for your days out, and the other guarantees your job. I called them before I signed to remind them that this had nothing to do with me being “sick” I got hurt on the job and would not apply to me, but they told me to sign and send them in ASAP and I did. I believe I was wrongly terminated, due to the emergency and the type of surgeries that I had. Is this right what they did to me?? Please Help me.

[Manley2]

FMLA will only hold your job for so long. Being off work because of and injury does not protect your job. If you are union they might have been able to help if you spoke with when it happened. This happened 9 months ago, what has been going on since you were let go?

[1171]

Your belief is incorrect.
New York law does not require the employer to hold/create a job for you longer then that covered by FMLA provisions- 12 weeks.
you can file a discrimination complaint if you have evidence that you were fired in retaliation for filing a comp claim.
As manley posted you might have some additional rights if you were working under a collective bargaining agreement or union contract.

[ChimarenTaylor]

I have to disagree with others. If you were working in November, than you have a fresh incidence of FMLA. Therefore, you had not exhausted your 12 week FMLA limitation in January 2013. There is some indication, even if you had not filed a new FMLA form for each return to work and then subsequent absence, that the employer was aware of the problem, since, obviously, it was work related.

Contact the Department of Labor and file a complaint. It won't do any good unless they have violated FMLA for others, but a public record will hurt them in the long run and you owe this to other injured workers.

Make sure to note your circumstances and that this was a work placed injury. While they are not required to hold your job, and want to get rid of you because you are likely to develop ongoing injuries (and their hope is you will get a job with someone else so they can grab the next employer and loop them into some type of liability), the fact that the employer did not hold the job should justify a greater degree of disability or at least an argument that they didn't believe you could do your current job with your limitations.

It is my understanding that New York never, with the emphasis on never, prosecutes employers for terminating WC injured workers. New York Workers Compensation is notoriously corrupt, so take it from me, having gone down this road, it is a waste of time to file with WC for wrongful termination.

You could however, file an EEOC complaint and allege that your company fired you due to knowledge of your disability. Just a thought. Given the closeness of the alleged FMLA cutoff and your return to work, this looks highly likely.

On February 12, 2012, I was hurt on the job, lacerating my right hand pinky finger. I was taken to the E.R. were Dr. ,,,,, performed micro surgery to reattach the tendon. About a week later, during the night, my tendon broke again, therefore, resulting in another surgery to reattach it. I was prescribed hand therapy 3x a week, and follow-up doctor visits every 3 to 4 weeks.
On July 2, 2012, I was able to return to work with full capabilities. I then developed carpal tunnel and 2 trigger fingers on right hand due to scar build up from previous surgery. On Nov. 29 the surgeon scheduled these surgeries at the same time to correct the problems. The doctor's note stated that I would be able to return to work with full duties, by the end of January 2013. I was terminated January 9, 2013 for having exhausted my days of family leave.
When I first got hurt, my employer mailed me a folder of papers to sign, “FMLA” , telling me that Worker’s compensation and FMLA work together, one pays for your days out, and the other guarantees your job. I called them before I signed to remind them that this had nothing to do with me being “sick” I got hurt on the job and would not apply to me, but they told me to sign and send them in ASAP and I did. I believe I was wrongly terminated, due to the emergency and the type of surgeries that I had. Is this right what they did to me?? Please Help me.