She took medical leave. Her employer rewrote her review. It cost them $42,500
Every case on this page belongs to someone who was fired, underpaid, pushed out, or punished for speaking up. We’ve written each one the way it happened — the conduct, the evidence that mattered, and what it resolved for. Names and employers are withheld. Everything else is the record.
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$42,500
Recovered
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~8 months
Time to resolution
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No lawsuit filed
How it ended
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Minnesota
Jurisdiction
Our client managed properties for a Minnesota management company. She lived with a neurological condition her employer had known about for years and had accommodated without issue — the arrangement worked, and her record reflected it. When the condition required surgery, she requested FMLA leave and was approved.
We represent workers in every industry. See who else we helpThe protected act
Her employer promised her work would be covered while she recovered. That promise is where the case begins: she left on approved leave with an explicit assurance that the accounts she managed would not sit untouched.
The retaliation
No one covered the work. She returned to a six-figure backlog of unpaid invoices and a desk buried in pending applications, then watched the backlog her employer created become the case against her. Within weeks of her return, the company’s chief executive remarked that she “could have fired” our client for staying out on leave. The accommodations that had worked for years were withdrawn. Her performance review scored her down for attendance tied to her protected absence. The pressure escalated until she had no reasonable choice except resignation.
The evidence
Retaliation cases are won on paper and timing, and here the paper was decisive. Our client kept the performance review she signed. The version sitting in her personnel file was not the same document — it had been altered after her signature to add criticisms blaming her medical condition.
Around that: the chief executive’s own words about her leave, witnesses who heard them, emails showing her requests for help went unanswered, and adverse actions that began within two to three weeks of her return. Courts treat that kind of timing as evidence of retaliation on its own, before anyone argues about what the review said.
“I pursued other attorneys who told me I didn’t have a case. After a couple of screenings, I even started to believe they were right and maybe it wasn’t that serious. I was encouraged to contact Wanta Thome. I did and I laid it all out before them. They not only took my case, but they took it seriously and validated the fact that I was not in a suitable work environment.
Something I will confidently say is companies tend to do what benefits them and not the employees who work for them. If you think it’s wrong, don’t be quiet.”
“I’m so grateful for Luke, Fernando, Matthew, and Shawn Wanta! They stood by me.”
The result
We sent a demand letter laying out the FMLA, disability discrimination, and constructive discharge claims. The matter settled for $42,500 without a lawsuit ever being filed, roughly eight months after she retained us.
What this case shows
An employer does not need to say “you’re fired for taking leave” to break the law. Letting work pile up with no coverage, then punishing the employee for the pile, is retaliation. So is rewriting the record. If your review changed after protected leave, or your file says things you never saw, keep every version and talk to a lawyer.
Who worked on this case
Meet the full team
Shawn Wanta
Founding Partner
Recognized among the nation’s Top 100 Civil Plaintiff and Top 10 Wage and Hour attorneys, a determined litigator fighting for workers in class and collective actions.
Admitted in MN · IL
Luke Molvarec
Attorney
Forged by his background as a Marine, an unwavering defender fighting to level the playing field and secure meaningful financial recovery for unfairly treated workers.
Admitted in IL
Fernando Palacios
Case Manager
Matthew Bernard
Client Experience Manager & Development
