http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/kidney-donor-scared-to-take-job-back-091411Kidney Donor Scared To Take Job Back
PHILADELPHIA - Claudia Rendon tells Fox 29 she’s been offered her old job back, but she’s afraid of retaliation after taking a leave to give her kidney to her son.
Rendon spoke with our Claudia Gomez on Wednesday after the owner of the Aviation Institute Of Maintenance said Rendon could return as soon at Thursday at full pay.
“Even if he offers me the same position with the same salary, I know I’ll be treated differently. I know they will try to make my life a living hell while I’m working there, anything to make it impossible to work there,” Rendon said.
Earlier, Gomez said the company’ owner said Rendon is back on the payroll, and they will welcome her back on Thursday, if she decided to return.
Fox 29 first brought you the story of Rendon, a Philadelphia mom who lost her job after giving a kidney to her son.
On Tuesday, Rendon’s immediate boss says the decision was a mistake, and the company would start paying her with a catch.
Rendon told Gomez on Monday that she had used her vacation time to care for her terminally ill mother, and then had to take a leave to help her son with the kidney donation.
Rendon needed time to recover from the surgery, so she took a leave of absence from her job at the Aviation Institute Of Maintenance.
When doctors cleared her to return to work last week, her boss, Kyle Berry, told her he had filled her job.
On Monday, we asked Berry why the company made the move. He had no comment and asked Fox 29 to leave. We also spoke with the company, which said it was within its legal rights to let Rendon go.
A day later, Berry told Fox 29 he was wrong.
We asked Berry why the change of heart. “We had time to reconsider. It was simply a mistake."
Berry then read from a prepared statement, which said Rendon would be paid her full salary until another position opened at the company.
Fox 29 asked Berry if the Aviation Institute Of Maintenance would pay Rendon until she can reapply, and then decide if they would give her the job back after it received her application.
The Rendon story put new attention on the federal FMLA rules, which don’t apply to people working at companies with fewer than 50 employees, and also not to employees at some larger companies.
Topic: Mom loses job after kidney donation (Read 3434 times)