Teacher fired after telling employer she needed brain surgery



INDIANAPOLIS  -- A pre-K teacher in Indiana was fired after telling her employer she needed surgery to remove a brain tumor.

She was diagnosed with a brain tumor after going to the doctor for severe headaches. Three days later doctors went in to remove the tumor. The 32-year-old teacher alerted her employer, Child Adult Resource Services, to let them know she would be off from work.

Amanda Anderson had worked for the school for less than a year.

"My supervisor told me that I would need to talk to her director in the corporate office because she didn't think I'd been there long enough and she'd have her call me. Five minutes later I got a phone call that said my employment had been terminated," Anderson told FOX59.

The school says they are within the law because Anderson didn't have leave coverage under the Family and Medical Leave Act because she was employed at the school for a short period of time.

Basil Weinman, CEO of the Children Adult Resource Services said, "we work with you as much as we can on the amount of benefit time that we have, but we then say we cannot hold that position, you are welcome to reapply once whatever your life crisis is averted."

FOX59 asked Weinman how long the employee has before they're terminated.

"It's after their benefit time has expired. And it's not termination, it's just separation of employment. We're not terminating like somebody has been terminated for poor job performance," Weinman said.

"I know that you're not going to pay me for hours that I'm not there and whatever God's plan is he's got it for me but it doesn't have to be so cold I'm already going through the worst time in my entire life," Anderson said.