[bp1035]

Hi everyone, My name is Beth from Pittsburgh Pa and I'am new here.I've been a foster parent for almost 2 years. I have 3 bio children and 2 foster children 1 boy with ftt and developmental delay (hoping to adopt) and a 5 year old girl . Upon taking in a newborn 1/2 brother of fd my boss told me I was in over my head with this and that I could not be a full time mom and have a full time job!!!!. Has anyone else ever had to deal with this or am I the only one?
Could someone please cheer me up or give me a job(ha ha).
Thanks for listening.

[jackiesbooks]

DId he fire you because that is what he thinks or does he have a reason (lateness, absences, etc)? If that is just what he thinks, he is discrimating against women and he has an issue.

[Scarlett_A.]

You need to get an attorney. That is TOTALLY wrong, not to mention illegal. An employer has absolutely no grounds to discriminate based on a person's family, or a person's size of family. In fact he has no right to ask about your family whatsoever. Even if you told him as a "head's up", for whatever reason, if you haven't done anything like "no-show" or call in sick excessively, what he's done is absolutely illegal. I would document EVERYTHING you possibly can and take it to a good attorney. That is total crap.

[bp1035]

I worked 44 -47 hours a week hardly ever missed work. Didn't have to be at work until 8am and was there at 5:30am everyday. Even if I had a hearing for my fs Iwould go to work , leave and then come back

[bp1035]

Thanks, I called the labor and hour for FMLA and the EEOC and got a lawyer.

[Scarlett_A.]

Excellent! Let us know how it goes......you are doing something important for parents all over the place, this should not be tolerated.

[eternaloptimist]

Hi,
What your employer did was awful.Lousy. But not illegal. Unless you belong to a bargaining unit ( a union),any employer can fire you at any time. They do not need "cause". You could use a lawyer,but chances are you would not be vindicated. It stinks,IMO. Best, Elizabeth.

[bp1035]

This does fall under being illegal as it was sexual discrimmination. You can't fire someone for being a parent. And also under the family medical leave act you can take up to 12 weeks unpaid leave for a fostercare placemant but you can not be fired for that. I was only asking for a few days or part time until I could find a babysitter to help out.

[callismom]

I am a foster parent and a Director of Human Resources and there are protections for employees. You can be covered by FMLA for employees who work full time for over a year, work in a company with over 50 employees, and have worked 1250 hours in the 12 months prior to your request for leave. You can take up to 12 weeks per rolling year for a placement/adoption of a child. You can request leaves in blocks of time, like I do every time a child is placed with me but it can be denied by the company. They are only required to approve blocks of time off for a medical leave. So if you have been requesting time off every time a child is placed with you your boss could deny you and fire you if you continue to take the time off. Do I think your boss is a jerk? Yes! Good luck in your legal battle. These cases can take years and sometimes it is just not worth it.

[locoenlacabeza]

I have also dealt with something similar. Although my employer at the time didn't specify that I was being terminated because I was a foster parent, I knew that was the reason.
I had never called in for any reason, was never late, and worked through my lunch if I needed to leave early for a hearing or something.
Then all my foster kids got the stomach flu and I had to call in. No sitter in their right mind will take a child that is puking and they needed to be seen by the doctor. Anyway, I took the kids to the doctor and they were written out of school for 48 hours which meant I had to stay home as well. Well, while I was at the doctors with the kids, my office called and wanted to know if I was there and what the prognosis was. The drs office didn't share but was more than willing to vouch for me that the kids were in fact sick and it was legitimate. I ended up getting fired that afternoon.
I think that I could have probably persued it, but it wasn't worth my time. I wanted to be home with the kids anyway.

[bp1035]

Thank you. I had never requested time off for the other foster children.They have about 100 employee and I have more than the requested time and hours. I think what bothers me the most is after 1 lady had her son she worked part time from home and still is part time 4 years later. I was only for a couple days.

[kelceesmom]

Glad to hear you are getting some counsel. It is totally illegal and if things are what you say they are you have an excellent case against this company and should pursue the case.

[eternaloptimist]

Hi again,
Husband is a laor lawyer,and he said : This is not illegal. The company will say that they need you to be full time,and you want to be part time for a certain length of time. They are within their legal rights to terminate any employee who can't be at work for the required shift. Is it a decent,humane thing to do ? No way ! But,it happens every day. Good luck,I'm pulling for you,and I hope you can make your case ! Elizabeth.

[Kate1129]

That's not right!

I'm happy to read you found a lawyer! Go after them!!

[Scarlett_A.]

Originally Posted by eternaloptimist

Hi again,
Husband is a laor lawyer,and he said : This is not illegal. The company will say that they need you to be full time,and you want to be part time for a certain length of time. They are within their legal rights to terminate any employee who can't be at work for the required shift. Is it a decent,humane thing to do ? No way ! But,it happens every day. Good luck,I'm pulling for you,and I hope you can make your case ! Elizabeth.

I don't think you read the thread thoroughly. She did not call in. She did not ask for her shifts to be reduced. She said:

my boss told me I was in over my head with this and that I could not be a full time mom and have a full time job!!!!.

No employer has the right to dictate what a person does when not on shift (outside of illegal drugs-yes, an employer does have the right to dictate that and require random drug tests).

It can also depend on what state you live in. Some states are "right to work" states......in other words they have to have a deeamn good reason to fire you before they do so. I think my state is NOT a right to work state, and even at my job they really can't just let me go without a REALLY good reason (and at least one write-up, and a write up only occurs for something REALLY serious).

I think you have a case on your hands. It is flat out discrimination to tell a woman that they have one too many children to hold down a full-time job.