Apparently getting pregnant is grounds for firing in Eugene

That depends as well. Her situation is different than mine because my wife is having her c-section Monday. My boss knows I love music and was going ton assign me covering a Grammy award winning band doing a special concert at a military base but it happens that following Friday.

Apparently, our HR said they would let me come back to work for the two hours since no one is forcing me and I like the band. But then again, I don't have any written warnings from supervisors oe have had any marks on my record.

You could work during FMLA, as long as HR knows and gives you the okay ahead of time. That's what Iearned recently.

 

Has anyone ever read an employee handbook cover to cover? Or do you just keep it around like a dictionary, to be referenced in time of need?

 

Definitely. And I am sure the HR person there did the bare minimum (and probably even less) to make sure the employee was aware of all the expectations of and protections provided by FMLA.

But (in my case at least), the bulk of the materials given to me in 2 different forms were provided by the insurance company. I'm sure that's pretty standard when such paperwork is filed. I highly doubt this third-party insurance company was complicit in keeping this information from an employee.

 

I'm no expert, but it is technically a violation of FMLA to even know a person is out on FMLA or to know why.

When you go on FMLA you are given extensive paperwork that says what you can and can't do. You have to read and sign it. If she signed it and didn't read it, then that's on her.

I suspect that given that paper's obligations to its third-party insurance party, they had to fire the reporter for violating the FMLA agreement.

It is a contract. If you break the contract, you're subject to termination.

This shit isn't hard. If an editor told her to stay on top of her beat, while the reporter was out on FMLA, then that editor will also be fired.

The paper has no choice or it will be in violation of its contract with the insurance provider.

So it will be interesting to see what happens next.