A Michigan woman says she was fired days before her daughter’s passing and has filed a lawsuit against her former employer.
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Terri Estepp, a former branch manager at Huntington Bank, used her paid time off and Family and Medical Leave Act benefits to care for her 31-year-old daughter in California, who was battling cancer. According to Click2Detroit, Estepp said she would help her daughter with chemo treatments and different things. Plus, she worked at the bank for 30 years and accumulated a lot of vacation time. But as her daughter’s condition worsened in Spring 2024, Estepp took 28 days off under Huntington’s Caretaker Time Off program and later FMLA. When she returned, she told her employer she’d need additional time to be with her daughter.
Estepp was fired that same day, and her daughter died a few days later: “Within ten days, my daughter died. They fired me on a Tuesday (and) she passed away on the following Friday.” She is suing Huntington Bank in federal court, alleging she was wrongfully terminated in violation of her FMLA rights.
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Huntington Bank stated to the outlet in response to Estepp’s lawsuit and said they were “saddened” by her daughter’s passing.
“While Huntington Bank does not comment on active litigation, we are committed to compliance with all employment laws, including the Family and Medical Leave Act, and we acted appropriately in this matter. Ms. Estepp’s departure from Huntington Bank was unrelated to an FMLA leave of absence.”
