Take it or Fight It?
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i have been offered a month and a halfs pay to leave quietly in a month.
what does this mean? That she's been offered a severance if she quits?
Or she's been offered some free money if she takes maternity leave in one month?still leaves me 4 or 5 months without pay that i would have had if my boss wasnt harrassing me
This sounds like they are trying to make her quit. Isnt' that illegal?
Is this a case where she won't be working in either case come 1 month from now? If that's the case, I'd say she keep working and wait to get fired - then she'll be jobless and sue them for harassment and possible maternity issues.
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Sounds to me like there are several different issues (harrassment, discrimination) here. I would not quit or take their offer. I would hire an attorney and fight for an acceptable settlement.
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I have a unique perspective here since I have actually worked while pregnant etc. TALK TO A LAYWER!! They are trying to sweep something that I hope you have documented in writing and sweep it under the rug.
The maternity leave thing yeah they are threatening to do something they can't do... last minute to try and get rid of you. The whole entire things stinks and needs so legal intervention.
It can't hurt to just talk to a lawyer and see if there is anything they can do to help you.
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I haven't read it yet, But Some companies do allow for the spouse - husband - to take maternity leave as well.. Limited,.. but it does happen.
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Yeah, my stance on this is, "I'm pregnant and being harassed at work". Document the incidents in email, work till your due, take your legal maternity leave and sue them for failing to protect you and stop the harassment.
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@gjacobse said in Take it or Fight It?:
I haven't read it yet, But Some companies do allow for the spouse - husband - to take maternity leave as well.. Limited,.. but it does happen.
In NY this is a legal right. A few other states as well. It's Family Maternity leave or something like that. 12 weeks is provided legally.
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It's called Family-Leave policy and it doesn't apply to just pregnancy.
But family health, adoption etc.
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it sounds like she doesn't want to take the max amount of time for maternity leave, she only wants to take what she needs... so that's not the important part from what I see.
Perhaps they are trying to get her to quit before she goes on leave, so they can just hire someone else who doesn't have kids to worry about.
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Depending on company size, she may be covered by FMLA.
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Well she is already covered under employee protection laws and maternity laws.
If in fact the company is trying to get her to quit through inaction on their part they are liable for lost wages, maternity insurance and coverage, and existing benefits. Of which they would be forced to pay in any court.
She seems like she'd be content to continue working at her existing job, but she wants the harassment to stop.
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@DustinB3403 Chances are that they will try to find a way to get rid of her. Reminds me of the movie Disclosure.
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It can be very tough to prove stuff unless there is a real smoking gun.
I'd maybe counter and threaten going to a lawyer. It will probably cost them way more, but employers are stubborn.
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If she has no copies of the complaints today, then she needs to visit HR again, make another complaint, and demand a copy of the filed complaint. That should be more than enough documentation. At the same time, she can request copies of the previous complaints as well, but they may choose not to accept that.
If they refuse to give a copy of the complaint, send an email to HR confirming the same stuff as listed in the complaint, then print it off and and take it home.
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I'd be surprised if HR would document something such as "this person is harassing our employee".
It wouldn't be acceptable.
"Don keeps grabbing Dolores in the naughty bits. We've told him to stop, but he won't. Not sure what else we can do." Signed, HR
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@Dashrender said in Take it or Fight It?:
This sounds like they are trying to make her quit. Isnt' that illegal?
Paying someone to quit is perfectly legal. People do it every day. They don't sound like they are forcing her, they are trying to avoid a legal issue because of a bad boss that they clearly don't want to deal with firing.
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@BRRABill said in Take it or Fight It?:
I'd be surprised if HR would document something such as "this person is harassing our employee".
It wouldn't be acceptable.
"Don keeps grabbing Dolores in the naughty bits. We've told him to stop, but he won't. Not sure what else we can do." Signed, HR
Defining harassing is the key point here. Unless there is more info that I didn't see, we can't assume sexual assault.
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@scottalanmiller said in Take it or Fight It?:
@BRRABill said in Take it or Fight It?:
I'd be surprised if HR would document something such as "this person is harassing our employee".
It wouldn't be acceptable.
"Don keeps grabbing Dolores in the naughty bits. We've told him to stop, but he won't. Not sure what else we can do." Signed, HR
Defining harassing is the key point here. Unless there is more info that I didn't see, we can't assume sexual assault.
Well, it's either an illegal harassment, or just an annoyance. Not going to get very far suing over someone just being annoying.
If they are looking into a lawyer, I would assume illegal harassment, Though people often, as I said, do not understand what is required to bring about a case for that kind of harassment.
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@BRRABill Actually you could, if the annoyance became harassment.
Of course proving it is harassment is the difficult part. If it's sexual advances on this person that are unwanted and she's made these complaints to HR to address the issue. It's a pretty simple case.
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Start looking for a new job immediately. You are 5 months pregnant not 8.5 months. So I wouldn't say that employers wouldn't hire you. I am sure you will probably get discriminated against since you are pregnant, but I don't believe that is going to be the case with every employer. Some may actually feel for your situation (certainly women and probably some men).
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I would continue negotiating the leave agreement. If you can get 2-3 months pay, I would leave and still continue the job search. In Florida, men and women can both take up to 12 unpaid weeks. So in Florida, you are unpaid during your leave anyway. I am not sure if that is the same as where you are.
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Everyone is telling you to go the lawyer route, but you could spend alot of $$$ and effort and come up with a big goose egg. I would maybe see if the lawyer could do a conference call at a low rate with you and your employer. Then your lawyer could remind them of the potential consequences and you may be able to squeeze more out of them for very little effort and costs on your end.
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@IRJ said in Take it or Fight It?:
- Start looking for a new job immediately. You are 5 months pregnant not 8.5 months. So I wouldn't say that employers wouldn't hire you. I am sure you will probably get discriminated against since you are pregnant, but I don't believe that is going to be the case with every employer. Some may actually feel for your situation (certainly women and probably some men).
And it is illegal for the potential employer to even record that information or pass it along.
