A former service adviser who was changed after a number of hospitalizations has sued a Kalamazoo, Mich., seller group for incapacity discrimination and violation of the Household and Medical Go away Act.
Heather Crummel’s swimsuit, filed Dec. 21, accuses Maple Hill Auto Group of illegally discharging her with out warning whereas on medical go away and with out displaying the go away posed any issues for the shop. The corporate has Subaru, Hyundai, Volvo, Volkswagen, Genesis and Audi franchises.
Proprietor and normal supervisor Jim VandenBerg advised Automotive Information he could not touch upon the case.
The shop employed Crummel as a service adviser in October 2017, and she or he was initially hospitalized in early 2019, in keeping with the criticism. Maple Hill notified her that she was eligible for medical go away beneath FMLA, and she or he used it a number of occasions earlier than her December 2019 termination, it stated.
The month earlier than the termination, administration gave her excessive job efficiency marks, saying she was the service staff’s gross sales chief for “inspection utilization” and second in “gross sales {dollars} off inspections,” the swimsuit stated. It additionally stated she’d obtained constructive opinions from service division prospects.
Her alternative started engaged on the identical date Crummel had been medically cleared to return to the job, it stated.
The swimsuit, which seeks reinstatement and damages, contends Maple Hill might have accommodated her incapacity by granting her request for an prolonged medical go away.
Her lawyer, Channing Robinson-Holmes, stated Crummel “was a valued worker till she started experiencing well being points and wanted medical go away.
“At that time, Maple Hill seen her as an issue and, amazingly, advised her she did not in actual fact want the medical therapy her physicians proscribed. Crummel deserved higher from her employer,” Robinson-Holmes advised Automotive Information in an electronic mail.