New Delhi:
A US woman is suing her former employer after claiming she was fired for taking leaves to care for her dying daughter. Terry Estep, who worked at Huntington Bank in Michigan for 30 years, diagnosed her daughter, Samantha (FMLA) with triple-negative breast cancer on sick days, family and medical leave (FMLA).
Ms Estepp used four of her 12 weeks of FMLA leave after exhausting every day of her leave and paying for the holidays in care of her daughter, CBS News reported.
A former Huntington Bank employee said her daughter Samantha had accused her mother of firing. She said, “It really hurt her. She started crying on the phone. She said, mommy, you lost your job for me.”
Samantha, 31, passed away within 10 days of her mother losing her job.
“It was an incredible shock,” said Estep’s lawyer, Sarah Prescott.
According to the report, Samantha was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2023, and her condition worsened over time, and Estep forced her to use all the leaves available to care for her. She wanted to be with her daughter while she was undergoing treatment, but she used federal laws that allow employees to take unpaid leave in work protection for medical and family reasons.
When she returned to the office, Ms. Estep requested more leave but was fired on the same day despite her long tenure with the company. “I was totally shocked. I wasn’t prepared for something like this,” she said.
“It’s a law that requires you to do all the proper paperwork and ask on time. Terry did all that,” Prescott said.
In response to the lawsuit, Huntington Bank said it was “committed to complying with all employment laws, including the Family and Medical Leave Act, and acted appropriately on this issue.”
