Expert: Charles W. Field - 8/14/2004

Question
I was custodian for local school when I became very ill. In a 6 months time I lost 20 pounds and became very anemic. Our Superintendant was aware of this and told me he worried about me. My Doctor put me on three weeks sick leave, He sent excuse to board in code. I suffered back injury in same year at work by having to carry 5 gal bottled water to   3rd floor. (Iam female and my weight at the time about 120 pds.) the last week of my sick leave I started having back problems and we was beginning summer work which is very hard work , I decided to ask for a weeks vacation I had coming and was granted it by superintendant in writing. Before I was to return to work after vacation he had board to vote to dismiss me on job abandment. They did and I have actually grieved over this. I loved that job , yes it was hard work but satisifing. Im in my 50s and since this new adminastration took over they seem to set a goal to get rid of employees close to retirement age. One custodian who had a lot of years in took sick leave for sm. sergery he put off for fear they would find reason to dismiss him before his coming retirement date.In bdlg in which he worked (high school) they fired a principle and put another in who was better at this witch hunt. The lady they fired filed a lawsuite against them and they settled for half million.I know this because we are close friends. Do you think I have a lawsuite worth persuing. Ive never even been to court with anyone so I dont know. I would love to have my job back and dont care about the money. Thank You for any help you can give. I live in Ohio, Etta Kniceley   P.S. God bless you

Answer
Unlike my state, GA, your state apparently allows damage suits for wrongful termination.(GA is a "hire and fire at will" state, meaning you can be fired for any or even no reason.) I would advise you to consult with a local attorney regarding the law in your state. Maybe you should consider talking to the attorney who represented your friend who got the settlement.