A Walnut Creek health care company will pay more than $37,000 in back wages and damages to an employee who was fired when she asked for medical leave, the U.S. Labor Department announced Thursday.
Latoya Blanche, a clerical employee with Muir Orthopedic Specialists for nearly two years, applied for four weeks of leave in June 2015 because of a serious health condition, the Labor Department said.
The federal Family Medical Leave Act allows employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for their own or a family member’s health problem.
“This employee suffered emotional and financial stress at a time when she could least afford it,” Susana Blanco, director of the Labor Department’s San Francisco district office, said in a statement.
