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Family and Medical Leave Claims

California and federal law give most employees the right to unpaid time off without adverse employment consequences to take care of an ill family member. However, conflicts can arise when an employer refuses to recognize the right to medical or family leave or there are questions with respect to the employee’s right to family medical leave.

Compassionate San Francisco Family and Medical Leave Attorneys

If you have encountered a problem in the workplace related to your need to care for a sick child or an elderly parent, contact the San Francisco family medical leave attorneys at Lawless, Lawless & McGrath. We can assess your situation and advise you about your rights and responsibilities under both the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA). We can show you how to document your need to take time off to handle such matters as an elderly parent’s Alzheimer’s disease, a spouse’s cancer treatment, or a child’s.

Neither the FMLA nor the CFRA protects a worker who takes family or medical leave without first documenting the need in a form the employer might reasonably require. In many cases, a dispute can arise between an employee and a supervisor over the sufficiency of a timely request for leave. In other cases, an employer will approve a request for unpaid leave, but fail to allow sufficient time for the employee to take care of the task, such as arranging nursing home care for an elderly parent in another state. We also handle cases where an employee returning from maternity leave or convalescent leave following surgery is terminated or demoted a few weeks after his or her return to work.

Family leave attorney Therese Lawless has nearly 20 years of experience with the litigation of workplace and consumer claims. She has received numerous professional honors in the course of her career, including recognition in 2004 as one of the top employee’s rights lawyers by The Record, California’s daily legal newspaper. Currently, she serves as President of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association.

If you have questions about your rights under either the FMLA or the CFRA, or if you have a strong idea that you’ve lost your job because you invoked medical or maternity leave rights to which you were entitled, contact Lawless, Lawless & McGrath today.

The San Francisco family medical leave attorneys at Lawless, Lawless & McGrath represent employees in cases involving the unlawful denial of maternity leave, medical leave, or family time to care for a sick child, spouse, or parent under the FMLA or CFRA. Our maternity leave lawyers serve clients throughout California, including San Francisco.