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A US woman is suing her former employer after claiming that she was fired for taking leaves to care for her dying daughter. Terri Estepp, who worked at Huntington Bank for 30 years in Michigan, took sick days and a Family and Medical Leave of Absence (FMLA) to care for her daughter, Samantha, who was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer.
Ms Estepp used four of her 12 weeks of FMLA leave after she exhausted all her vacation days and paid leave to care for her daughter, reported CBS News.
The former Huntington Bank employee said her daughter, Samantha, blamed herself for her mother's firing. She said, "It really hurt her. She started to cry on the phone. She said, Mom, you lost your job because of me."
Samantha, 31, died within 10 days of her mother losing her job.
"It was an incredible shock," said Ms Estepp's lawyer, Sarah Prescott, who filed a lawsuit against the bank for firing the grieving mother for using FMLA leave.
According to the report, Samantha was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2023, and her condition deteriorated over time, compelling Ms Estepp to use all her available leaves to care for her. She wanted to be with her daughter while she was undergoing treatment and used the federal law that allows employees to take job-protected, unpaid leave for medical and family reasons.
When she returned to the office, Ms Estepp requested more leave but was fired the same day, despite her long tenure with the company. "I was in complete shock. I was not ready for anything like this," she said.
"It's a law that requires you to do all the right paperwork and ask on time. Terri had done all of that," said Ms Prescott.
Huntington Bank, in response to the lawsuit, said they were "committed to compliance with all employment laws, including the Family and Medical Leave Act, and we acted appropriately in this matter."