I had a dental appointment for a deep cleaning, and they gave me a note for the whole day off, because they said it was going to be painful. I told my supervisor that the appointment was for having a wisdom tooth extracted because I feel that it is personal and I don’t have to tell them anything about me personally. Even though I told them the truth about where I was going and had a doctor’s note they’re trying to fire me because I didn’t tell them the truth about what I went in for.
Ann Kiernan replies:
Sorry to tell you, but you certainly can be fired for lying, even though you had a doctor’s note. A situation like yours came up in a federal case not long ago. A Sears employee was absent for two days and said that he had been receiving radiation treatment for prostate cancer. Later, he was hospitalized, and told Sears that his absence was due to treatment for bipolar disorder. He also confessed that his prior absence was not due to prostate cancer but was also because of bipolar disorder.
Sears fired him for lying about his need for prostate cancer treatment and prevailed in federal court. The sad part about this case is that, had he told Sears the truth about the first leave, it would have been covered by the FMLA and his job would have been protected. Courts have consistently found that employers are entitled to the real reason for medical leave. Prigge v. Sears Holding Corp., 432 Fed. Appx. 170 (3d Cir. 2011).
Posted 03-19-2021
Information here is correct at the time it is posted. Case decisions cited here may be reversed. Please do not rely on this information without consulting an attorney first.
