(WWJ) Famed attorney Geoffrey Fieger is facing the other side of the table as an employee sues him for firing her when she took time off to care for a child with suspected coronavirus.
Polina Milman, 33, an attorney in Fieger's office, alleges in a federal lawsuit he refused to let her work from home to take care of her sick 2-year-old when he came down with a respiratory illness that she feared was COVID-19. She claims she even offered to take the time as unpaid, and he refused.
She simply wanted a few days off, her attorney Deborah Gordon said, and she was legally entitled to take them.
"This was a needless termination of a young mother and attorney who simply wanted to do her job and needed a few days off because her child was experiencing COVID symptoms," Gordon told freep.com. "It should have been no problem — in fact HR approved the leave. ... As it turned out, only a few days later my client would have been working remotely per the Governor's order. Now she is without any employment."
Fieger not only refused his employee her legally protected time off to care for a sick child -- he was nasty about it, Gordon said.
For his part, Fieger calls the lawsuit "nonsense" and says she was an at-will worker who could be terminated. He adds she never produced a doctor's note.
Legal expert Deborah Lord told WWJ's Charlie Langton this may be a problematic case for Fieger as family medical leave act laws are clear: Any worker is entitled to job protection for 12 weeks to care for a sick loved one or to take care of themselves during an illness or recovery.
"This one has me scratching my head," Lord said. "She should have had her job protected for a minimum of 12 weeks. For whatever befuddling reason, he didn't."
