IOP 455 Week 2 Law and Personnel Management Example

Absences, Migraines and a Termination Request: Employment Law in Day-to-Day Personnel Decisions

[Student Name]

University of Phoenix

IOP/455: Professional Ethics

Week 2 Assignment

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The hospital system, staff and events are composites written for a model paper; legal and research material comes from the sources listed.

Most personnel decisions are routine, but many touch the law. Leave requests, accommodations and terminations all carry legal requirements, and how decisions are made affects both employees and the organization. This paper examines a termination request at the Tucson hospital system introduced in Week 1.

The Request

Brian, a nurse manager on a cardiac unit, asks HR to terminate Alicia Romero, a registered nurse with eleven unscheduled absences in six months, well beyond the hospital's attendance policy. Dr. Naomi Reyes, the internal I-O psychologist, is reviewing attendance policies and joins the discussion. In reviewing the file, she notices that several absences followed shifts when coworkers reported that Alicia had a severe migraine, and that Alicia had mentioned seeing a neurologist. Alicia had never formally requested leave or accommodation.

At-Will Employment and Its Limits

Arizona is an at-will state, meaning a job can usually be ended by worker or employer without notice and without a stated cause, as long as the reason is not unlawful. The exceptions are significant. An employer may not terminate an employee because of race, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability or other protected characteristics, in retaliation for exercising legal rights or in violation of a contract. A termination for attendance can become unlawful if the absences are protected.

Job-Protected Time Off

Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, passed in 1993, a qualifying worker at a covered employer may step away for up to twelve weeks in any twelve-month span, unpaid but with the job held open, when a serious health condition keeps them from working. That time can be used a day or a few hours at a time if a doctor says the condition requires it. Absences that qualify cannot be counted against the employee under an attendance policy. An employer that learns an absence may be for a qualifying reason must notify the employee of her eligibility and rights; the employee need not use the statute's name.

Alicia has worked at the hospital for three years, full time, so she likely meets the eligibility thresholds. Chronic migraines treated by a neurologist may qualify as a serious health condition. Coworker reports and her mention of a neurologist may have been enough to put the hospital on notice.

Disability and Accommodation

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 protects workers with disabilities who can do a job's core duties, and it obliges employers to make workable adjustments unless the cost or disruption would be severe. Chronic migraines can substantially limit major life activities and may qualify as a disability. When an employer knows or has reason to know that an employee may need an accommodation, it should begin an interactive process, a good-faith discussion to identify effective accommodations, such as a modified schedule, a quieter break space or adjusted lighting.

Why Procedure Matters

Lind et al. (2000) surveyed nearly a thousand recently terminated workers and examined what led some to file wrongful-termination claims. The strongest predictor was how fairly and respectfully they felt they had been treated at the time of termination, more than factors such as the reason for the firing. Workers who felt treated with dignity were far less likely to consider or file claims.

For the hospital, this research reinforces a lesson beyond legal compliance: even a lawful termination carried out abruptly and without explanation invites conflict, while a respectful, transparent process reduces it.

Eleven absences looked like a discipline problem on Brian's spreadsheet; on Alicia's calendar, most of them were migraine days.

Recommendations

Pause the termination. Proceeding now risks interfering with protected leave and failing to accommodate a disability.

Inform Alicia of her rights. HR should meet with her privately, explain that some absences may be covered and provide the leave forms and information about the accommodation process.

Begin the interactive process. With medical documentation, HR and Alicia can identify accommodations, such as advance notice of schedule changes and the ability to swap shifts during migraine flare-ups.

Reassess the absences. Once leave is approved for qualifying absences, those cannot count under the attendance policy; any remaining absences can be addressed consistently with how other nurses are treated.

Consult counsel. Because the facts involve possible statutory rights, HR should involve the hospital's employment attorney.

Documentation and Consistency

Good personnel decisions rest on records. Naomi reviews how the unit has handled other nurses' absences and finds that two nurses with similar counts received only verbal warnings. Firing Alicia while others received warnings would look inconsistent and, if she has a protected condition, could suggest a discriminatory motive. Going forward, the unit will track absences with reasons, apply the same steps of progressive discipline to everyone, verbal warning, written warning and final warning, and record each conversation.

Labor Relations

The hospital is also in the middle of a union campaign at one site. Federal labor law protects employees' rights to discuss working conditions and to organize. Alicia has been a visible supporter of the union, and a termination during the campaign could be read as retaliation even if attendance were the true reason. That risk is another reason to pause, follow the leave and accommodation process and keep careful records.

The Manager's Concerns

Brian's frustration is legitimate: unpredictable absences strain a cardiac unit and burden coworkers. Approved intermittent leave and accommodations can make absences more predictable and allow planning for coverage. Training managers to recognize when an attendance issue may involve a health condition, and to call HR before acting, would prevent similar situations.

Ethical Dimensions

Beyond the law, Naomi recognizes ethical obligations: fairness to Alicia, honesty about her rights and consistency with other employees. The ethical and legal analyses point the same way here, though in other cases law may permit actions that ethics would question, such as firing a long-serving employee abruptly for a first minor lapse.

Conclusion

A routine termination request turned out to involve possible protected leave and disability accommodation. At-will employment does not permit firing someone for protected absences, and the hospital may already have been on notice. Research showing that perceived unfair treatment predicts legal claims supports a respectful, transparent process. Pausing, informing, accommodating and applying the attendance policy consistently is lawful, fair and practical.

References

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (1990).

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq. (1993).

Lind, E. A., Greenberg, J., Scott, K. S., & Welchans, T. D. (2000). The winding road from employee to complainant: Situational and psychological determinants of wrongful-termination claims. Administrative Science Quarterly, 45(3), 557-590. https://doi.org/10.2307/2667109