You may be left in a state of serious illness, injury, or disability if your once-trusted healthcare provider negligently administers your treatment. With this, you may be unable to live your life the way you used to, at least temporarily. This may entail being unable to perform your job duties in the same capacity as before. However, you may be remiss to give up the job position you worked so hard to earn in the first place. This may have you lean toward considering a temporary leave of absence. Well, follow along to find out whether you can take a leave of absence from work after experiencing a medical malpractice incident and how a proficient New York City medical malpractice attorney at Mark L. Bodner, P.C. can help you get rightfully compensated at this time.
Can I take a leave of absence from work after experiencing a medical malpractice incident?
With being made the victim of a medical malpractice incident, you must immediately educate yourself on your rights in the matter. Namely, you should better understand the concept of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). This federal act holds that, if you are an eligible employee, you may protect your job while taking a leave of absence for up to 12 weeks to recuperate from a debilitating health condition or care for a family member recovering from such. This is to say that you may legally take a leave of absence after experiencing a medical malpractice incident or after your family member experiences such.
With that being said, the FMLA has strict guidelines as to which illnesses, injuries, and disabilities qualify for job-protected leave. Specifically, your condition must require hospital care and continuing healthcare treatment, such as corrective surgery. Plus, your condition must make you incapacitated and unable to perform your job duties for at least three days.
Can I sue for lost wages in a medical malpractice claim?
You must know that while the FMLA protects your job for the time being, it does not allow you to collect wages during this time. That is, you may miss out on wages for up to 12 weeks while you try to recover from your medical malpractice incident. In this case, you may sue the negligent healthcare provider for lost wages in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Here, you may even claim future lost wages, if you anticipate your recovery time taking longer than 12 weeks. Or, you may claim a diminished earning capacity, if you expect your inability to return to your field of work ever again. Of course, this is in addition to all the other economic and non-economic damages you likely incurred from the incident.
In conclusion, a talented New York City medical malpractice attorney can help kickstart your legal action today. Our team at Mark L. Bodner, P.C. will happily take on your case.