My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: Florida
Almost two weeks ago I was terminated by my boss for "excessive absenteeism." I'm an RN and was employed by a very large hospital for the last 6 years. My boss and I didn't really get along and there were a few incidences two weeks prior to the termination where we had gotten in to a disagreement. First one was regarding scheduling issues and the second one was regarding a leave of absence I was planning on taking in Feb for my wedding and honeymoon
I will admit up front that over the course of my employment that I have had issues with my attendance. Nothing crazy but I have been disciplined for it. I am a single mom and have had to occasionally take a day off to care for my daughter, etc.
I was last disciplined for attendance issues in Sept of last year after I had been sick a few weeks on and off with the flu. The hospital's attendance policy is pretty strict. They use a rolling calendar and if you are absent/sick 9 times in a year, it can lead to termination. The HR policy states that the 9 or more could lead to termination if the disciplinary process has been followed. The policy is a verbal/written then suspension and then termination. My boss called a meeting with my and she fired me the spot for excessive absenteeism, apparently I had just reached the 9th call in. I was completely blindsided and while I was expecting some form of disciplinary action, was not expecting to be fired.
After I was terminated, I immediately called HR and escalated it up the the director of the HR for my department. I spoke with the director at length and my concerns were that I had not been disciplined in over a year for attendance and I knew that the hospital's policy was not followed. I truly feel that I was fired due to personal reasons with my boss and attendance was used. I know there are RN's who have abused the policy and still have their jobs. I finally got a call back from the director I have been dealing with and they are willing to GIVE me my job back. I asked the director if my boss followed proper Policy and she said NO. They of course want me to go back to the same floor under the same management team. While I am grateful for the opportunity to have a job, I do not want to go back to a hostile work environment. I told her that I was going to speak with my managers supervisor and discuss my option with her.
I am really upset and very very angry over this. Obviously if they are willing to give me my job back then they realize they did something wrong! Does that absolve them of any wrong doing and do I have a case for wrongful termination??
Thanks for reading and for any responses
-M

