A Bradenton Beach restaurant owes worker $60,000 for denying medical leave
A Florida restaurant company was ordered to pay $60,065 in back pay and damages for an employee who was denied medical leave after a hospital stay and then fired, the U.S. Department of Labor said in a news release.
The employee worked at Wicked Cantina in Bradenton Beach, which is operated by The Wicked Taco Inc. The company has a second location in Sarasota.
According to the Department of Labor, the Wicked Cantina employee was released from a brief hospital stay on March 1, 2020 with doctor’s orders to take at least three days off of work.
The employee presented the doctor’s orders to a general manager but was told to work regardless, the Department of Labor said.
That resulted in a violation of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
“The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons,” the Department of Labor’s website says.
It covers several medical situations, including births, family illness and the presence of a serious health condition “that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job.”
In the case of Wicked Cantina, Department of Labor investigators found that “the employer never brought up that the worker could use FMLA-protected leave and did not provide notification of the employee’s FMLA rights or provide the required forms or notifications.”
The employee was fired less than a week later “for alleged excessive tardiness and allegedly spreading rumors among co-workers about the management,” the Department of Labor said.
On March 3, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida ordered The Wicked Taco Inc. to pay back wages and liquidated damages for the former employee. The company was also ordered to comply with medical leave laws in the future.
“When dealing with a health concern, no worker should be forced to fear losing their job while facing one of life’s difficult challenges,” Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division district director Nicolas Ratmiroff said in the news release. “The costly consequences for Wicked Cantina’s illegal actions are clear reminders for other employers that retaliating against workers for invoking their protected rights is no way to do business.”
Reports of federal labor law violations can be filed on the Department of Labor’s website at dol.gov/agencies/whd/contact/complaints. Tampa’s Wage and Hour Division office can be reached at 813-288-1242.