[msd128]

The last day has been horrible. I have been doing nothing but crying and didn't sleep at all last night.

Just some background:

I am a police officer for a village with a pop of 9,000. I have been with this department for 3 years. The day after I found out I was pregnant (@ 7wks) , per our policy, I told the Chief I was pregnant and had an appt to see the OBGYN approx a week later. He congradulated me and made a statement about going on light duty and working with out records clerk. I felt good about this at the time because he seemed very open to the light duty thing. In police work there has been a history of problems with discrimination and pregnant females.
I went to my first OB appt. and received a note from the doc stated that as of Feb 19th I couldn't perform my duties as an officer based on my pregnancy. I should be placed on light duty. That same day I went into work and gave the chief the note. He then started saying that he wasn't sure about the light duty because there wasn't any work for me to do. I became very upset because I and everyone else knows that there is plenty of work for me to do in records because our clerk is a train wreck or I could work in evidence. The chief then told me that there might be about 2 weeks of work for me to do and that was it and I would have to go on FMLA. They put me on maternity leave and took me off the schedule.
At this time I was advised by my sergreant that I could apply for short term disability through out police pension. That same day I filled out the application and turned it in. The pension board(which includes three officers and two village employees) in turn sends me three forms of disability that have to be filled out by three docs of my choice and returned to the pension board. The board the has a hearing on weather to grant me disability status which would pay me 50% of my pay taxed. Well the three doctors filled out the info the pension board wanted and returned it 4 weeks later. I was then told that the pension board was not happy with the information given by the doctors and they wanted a more detailed explanation to why my pregnancy disables me from performing my duties as a PO. The pension board then sent out again the infornation request to the doctors.
During this time while I am waiting for my pension stufff to go through, the village decideds to give me two weeks of light duty in records. They make this formal by notifying me in a letter. I do the two weeks and then they extended the light duty another two weeks because the volume of work was huge not to mention the records clerk went to germany for two weeks during this time. My last day of work was the 16th of March. Since then I was told by the chief via the finance guy that between my last day of work and the pension hearing I was required to use up all of my sick, vacation and comp time before I could go on FMLA. This I have done and as of 4/5/07 I exhausted all of my time. So I am now just waiting for my pension to come through.
The last time I saw my doctor was on the 22nd of March and he and I discussed the paperwork the pension board wanted. He had it there in the office and I saw it with my own two eyes. As of today the pension board has still not received the paperwork back from the doctors.
So yesterday my sergeant calls me and tells me that the chief has been told by the village admin and finance guy that ther are some loose ends that need to be tied up with my paperwork and I needed to talk to the finance guy to get everything straightened out before the fall when I return to work. The sergeant said that it sounded like I had to get this stuff done or I wasn't going to have a job when I returned.
I totally freaked out because now I'm thinking ***. I call the finance guy and ask him when he wants me to come in and he tells me that I shouldn't and he will be sending me a letter. I told him to put the letter in my mailbox at work and I will come and get it.
So I pick up the letter and it tells me that I am not eligable for FMLA because the village employs less than 50 people. Then it says that if I get the disability, I have to pay my medical insurnace primiums in full while I am on leave. Then it tells me this:

IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT AS OF MID DAY ON APRIL 5TH 2007, YOU EXHAUSED YOUR AVAILABLE PAID TIME OFF. ACCORDINGLY, YOU HAVE NOW BEEN PLACED IN AN UNPAID STATUS, PENDING FURTHER ACTION. YOU ARE CURRANTLY ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE. iF YOU BELIEVE THAT DETERMINATION IS INCORRECT, PLEASE CONTACT ME UPON YOUR RECEIPT OF THIS LETTER. END OF LETTER.

While I am crying, I am looking at the village personnel manual. It states that if I am AWOL for three consecutive days then it would be considered as resignation.

***!!!! I have called my attorney and am waiting to speak with her. On monday, I will be walking my butt into the OB's office and am not leaving until I have the paperwork for my disability. I am then going to speak with the chief and have him read this BS letter and tell me what to do. then i am going to speak with the finance guy and ask him to interpret this letter, especially the last paragraph.

I am freaking out. I don't know what to do. I think these ######s are going to fire me because I am pregnant. I can't figure out why they would want to fire me. I have been an outstanding officer, my evaluations have been excellent.

Please, any comments or suggenstions would help.

Oh, I forgot to mention that in January an officer took FMLA when his wife gave birth to their child.

[ASoldiersLuckyCharm]

They can't fire you because your pregnant. That is just wrong just because your a female and are pregnant that is wrong as h e l l.

[blessedw/3boys]

Wow! I have no experience in any of this so I can't offer any advice. I hope you are able to get everything straightened out! I think it's good that you are talking to your lawyer!

[Tikka]

Unbelievable! I am sorry but what they are doing to you is sooooo wrong

Can't offer any legal advice, but get a lawyer STAT! You have obvioulsy played by their rules and have adhered to all of their policies, but yet that has got you no where except for the possibility of losing your job. I hate these power tripppers who make people jump through hoops only to screw them in the end.

Be calm, be assertive and be aggresive. They have no right to treat you like this!

PS, I wonder if your lawyer can accomany you to the finance guy's office for clarification?

[Alison79]

Wow, I am so sorry you are going through this. I think that talking to your lawyer is absolutely the best thing you can do right now. It sounds like you have all your ducks in a row in terms of getting the paperwork they required and keeping track of important dates and correspondence. I wish you the best of luck!

[christianmommato3]

((HUGS)) hope you get it all straightened out. getting a lawyer was an excellent move

[rverrone11]

I'm sorry you are in this situation. I would show up to work on Monday and every day until the Pension Board has a hearing and makes a decision or until there is some kind of letter stating that you are on leave. I know you are not on the schedule, but that way you won't be AWOL for three days. From what I understand, if you are AWOL for three days, they have reason to fire you. So show up and document it. Then they cannot fire you based on being AWOL for three days. I hope your attorney can help you!

[mosean2]

they should put you on light duty - there is always something to do. family leave is unpaid at my job and disability lasts depending on hoe long you have been with the company. and from what i understand you have to renew family leave aper every 6 months. it just seems like your seargent didnt know what to do and he or she should have send you to someone else in hr to figure this out. i hope it all works out for you and you cant get fired as long as you followed all the stes that you were told to take. you dont work in hr so you couldnt possibly know what your supposed to be doing and if anyone has messed u it is them!

[CeiCei]

***? The nerve of some people. I am so sorry to hear you going through this. They are absolutely wrong and really have no grounds for what they are doing to you. I agree that you need to take care of things with a very good lawyer. Because as long as you don't have one they are going to screw you.

Despite everything...Just try to stay calm and remember that your precious baby always is first....don't let them stress you out, that's what they want.

[Lauren]

Thats discrimination he cannot fire you for being pregnant. Get in touch with your attorney asap. They cannot do this. Police offices at time feel they are exempt from laws since they are part of the judicial system, they are not. Stay calm and record everything date time witnesses everytime something happens. Please don't just let it go

[chantellnp]

You defintely need a lawyer. I was a firefighter/paramedic for years. When one of the girls got pregnant there job was never in danger. The dept was required to find light duty for them or hold their job until they could return. I'm in California so I know there are alot more laws concerning this kind of thing but I do think you have protection under the federal pregnancy discrimination act.

[mom2maddie]

I just got this from work. Hopefully this will help you. I haven't checked out the website...
"Prohibition Against Pregnancy Discrimination: The Pregnancy Discrimination Act is an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions constitutes unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII. Women affected by pregnancy or related conditions must be treated in the same manner as other applicants or employees with similar disabilities or limitations. See http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-preg.html

Good luck. I hope everything works out ok.

[fishysticks]

I think speaking with a lwayer is DEFINITELY a good decision. Getting yanked around is never an easy thing to deal with, especially when you're pregnant and know there's no other reason to be treated this way.
My work's been doing a similar thing to me- making up excuses that they'd be able to fire me because i'm pregnant and under my doctor's orders can not complete a lot of activities that are 'required'.

It's a sh*t situation, but they shouldn't be treating you that way. We all know it isn't fair, i'm sure they do too. It may just take someone else (like a lawyer) to show them that.

[msd128]

Thanks for all of your replies so far. A major concern that I have right now is that they are going to fire me because I am, according to them violating a policy by being AWOL. it seems like they are trying to cover their butts, trying to make it look like I am being terminated because of policy, not because I am pregnant.

[kristenv1980]

Thanks for all of your replies so far. A major concern that I have right now is that they are going to fire me because I am, according to them violating a policy by being AWOL. it seems like they are trying to cover their butts, trying to make it look like I am being terminated because of policy, not because I am pregnant.[/b]

I was asking my dh who is a police officer and he basically said the same thing...it seems like they are trying to cover themselves by saying the AWOL thing. It is SO wrong though. I would def. talk with a lawyer. I hope things work out for you!

[rverrone11]

Thanks for all of your replies so far. A major concern that I have right now is that they are going to fire me because I am, according to them violating a policy by being AWOL. it seems like they are trying to cover their butts, trying to make it look like I am being terminated because of policy, not because I am pregnant.[/b]

Yeah, they will try and get around it any way possible. If you are not on the schedule and you don't show up, it doesn't seem like you would be AWOL. I mean, if you are not supposed to be there and you don't show up, then you aren't really AWOL in my understanding. If you were on the schedule and didn't show up, then you would be AWOL. Does the employee handbook or any other policy say anything else about being AWOL or what actually constitutes AWOL?

[mom2maddie]

Can you show up for work Monday? Then you would only be one day AWOL, right? Wouldn't that be a written reprimand or something like that? Good luck.

[hanahuna]

I would wait and see what your attorney has to say - I wouldn't think there is any way they can fire you because you are pregnant ... not sure what law protects us from that but there CERTAINLY is one
How crazy is that!!!

[jo77]

Yeah, they will try and get around it any way possible. If you are not on the schedule and you don't show up, it doesn't seem like you would be AWOL. I mean, if you are not supposed to be there and you don't show up, then you aren't really AWOL in my understanding. If you were on the schedule and didn't show up, then you would be AWOL. Does the employee handbook or any other policy say anything else about being AWOL or what actually constitutes AWOL?
[/b]

This makes sense to me too - you weren't on the roster so you weren't technically absent. If you were on the roster and didn't show up then you would have missed a day.

[Natacha]

The nerve of some people, but this happens more then you think I'm sure! They are definitely trying to get you for being AWOL... they are trying to cover their own butts by trapping you into something! Don't do anything over the phone if you don't have to! March you butt down there and demand some things! Like you said, get your paperwork from the OB and then go to your place of work and don't leave until you've talked to someone. Also, you definitely need an attorney and let them know you have an attorney. At this point you already think you are going to lose your job, so be tough when you talk to them. Look them in the eyes at all times and DO NOT back down. Don't let a single one of them intimidate you - what's the worst that could happen - you could lose your job - you already think that is the possibility, so I say - say what's on your mind and be tough! Let them know that you are the wrong girl to mess with - make them scared!