Question about attempted suicide and possible job loss due to that

[sstepp63]

I'll be brief. My nephew attempted suicide last Friday evening. He was at home. I'm not sure how to classify it as I took the gun from him and it was not loaded. It was his so I'm sure he would have known that. He asked me to get him help. I took him to the emergency room. He was evaluated by a counselor and voluntarily placed himself in an adult help center that night. He has been having suspicions of his wife cheating for a couple of months. Apparently she told him over the phone she was leaving and he just lost it.
She was not there when this happened but she went to his place of employment, he works for a city as their maintenance supervisor, and told them he had barricaded himself in the house and when I broke the door down and grabbed the gun it went off and shot him in the head. This never happened. She is telling this all over the town. Now at their regular council meeting next Monday they are going to decide to either keep him or fire him.

Can they do that? He is receiving treatment and no danger to anyone that I know of. Also, they are asking alot of questions about what happened. Do I have to give them that information?

Thanks for any help,
sstepp63

 

[cbg]

YOU don't have to tell them anything. You are not a party to his employment. But your nephew would be doing himself a disservice if he refuses to answer their questions. He could be cutting himself off from protections under the ADA and FMLA that he might otherwise have had.

How many employees does his employer have? How long has he worked for this employer? In the last 12 months, has he worked a minimum of 1,250 hours? How much, if any, time has he missed in the last 12 months? How much time is he anticipated missing?

 

[sstepp63]

He has been employed with them since June working 40 hours a week. They have less than 5 employees. He works for 5 council members with one being his direct supervisor. I went by today to talk to his boss. He is adamantly in favor of doing everything he can to help him keep his job. He said it takes 3 council members to vote to terminate him and he is hoping now that he understands exactly what happened he can sway the vote to keep him on. He said he would only tell them what he thought was absolutely necessary to keep his job. He rarely misses any work and is expected to only be in the help center for 2 weeks. He went in on Saturday. He's going to call his boss tomorrow and talk to him too.

Where can I find out more about the ADA and FMLA laws for Georgia? I appreciate your answers greatly.

sstepp63

 

[cbg]

With only 5 employees neither FMLA nor the ADA applies at either the Federal or state level. He can legally be fired. Even if they had the requisite number of employees if he's only worked there since June he would not qualify for FMLA.

I still think he is far more likely to keep his job if he cooperates with them in answering their questions.

 

[sstepp63]

Thank you. I am glad I understand now. He will call his boss today. He was under sedation the weekend and talked with his doctor for the first time yesterday.
The issue of them asking the questions was not directed toward him. After his wife went all over town saying what she did, the police were coming up to my family members and asking questions. It's a very small town but we are all already very upset and I believe in talking with his boss but saw no reason to inform the rest of the town.
I appreciate your honest answers and they have helped me alot.

sstepp63