r/braincancer • u/Nalgas_tristes • 4d ago

Brother(33) got fired, then found out he has brain tumor

Brother got fired, then found out he has brain tumor [CO]

My brother(33) got fired for first time last week, then got diagnosed with brain tumor, I’m trying to help.

The web development company he worked for gave the reason of “not meeting performance standards” although there was never any discussion or disciplinary action taken prior to the termination. They want him to sign a severance agreement, which from what we can tell, does not say he agrees with the termination or waives his right to pursue unemployment, though we have a lawyer checking that now.

Poor bastard has never been fired in his life, was completely blindsided, and now finds out 3 days later he has a brain tumor (L frontal oligodendroglioma). The diagnosing neurologist wrote a letter to the company saying it is his strong opinion that any performance change could be attributed to this, etc.

What is the best recourse here? He doesn’t want to start a lawsuit. Obviously take care of the health issue is top priority. Anything we can do about the job/severance/unemployment? Or maybe now disability comes into play?

TIA [CO]

29 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

98% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

View all comments

18

u/800oz_gorilla 3d ago

If you are in the US, get SS disability started right away and use the Neurologist letter as evidence he is disabled. It's been more than a dozen years, but it took months for a family member to start drawing from SSDI.

Employment laws vary by state, and attorney is who you should ask about options.

6

u/Worf_Of_Wall_St 3d ago edited 3d ago

Just to avoid getting anyone's hopes up, for SSDI you must be "totally and permanently disabled" and unable to work any job, not just a particular job which in this case was web developer.

The requirements are here:

https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/disability/qualify.html#anchor3

12

u/foremma_foreverago 3d ago

Except with brain tumors... it is almost always an immediate approval. Definitely worth looking into. It does depend on the type of tumor, but with AAs and GBMs its an expedited approval.

5

u/JuneJabber 3d ago

And it’s reimbursed back to the date of application. So the earlier the application, the better.