CHARLESTON – A respiratory therapist is suing her former employee for a violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act when it claimed she missed a deadline to turn in paperwork certifying her continued need to take time off to provide care for her ill mother.
Debbie Dea Basham filed a lawsuit against Select Specialty Hospital-Charleston Inc. on Sept. 4 in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Sometime in late April, the lawsuit claims, the hospital provided Basham with certification paperwork regarding her continued need for FMLA leave, as well as a May 8 deadline to complete and turn in the paperwork. She then, the lawsuit claims, was asked and given an extension to May 18 to turn in the paperwork. She turned the paperwork in on May 16, but was told on May 22 that she had failed to return it on time and was fired.
Basham, who is seeking a sum of money equal to back pay and benefits as well as reinstatement, is being represented by attorneys Stephen B. Farmer and Matthew H. Nelson of Farmer, Cline & Campbell, PLLC in Morgantown. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Jennifer F. Bailey.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 15-C-1678.
