So my sister works in an office where she mostly makes phone calls. Important ones, yes, but most of her job is phone work regardless. She is one of 4 people who work in the office, the other 3 are the owner and her kids. My sister is considered management, because the 4 of them together manage a team of caregivers/aides who go in people's homes to give them assistance. These people are always disabled, usually elderly, sometimes children though.
I give this as context because my sister has just been given very bad news about her own health. She has given warning to her boss that she may need to come in late a couple of times for appointments due to this development with her health.
Her boss pretty much responded that actually she had started to notice her balance wasn't very good (mind you she has not fallen) and until she's cleared by a doctor to come back to work, she was not allowing her to come back to work.
My sister asked if she could make remote work accommodations and she refused. My sister tried to get neurology to clear her, but neurology said they can't clear her because they didn't take her out of work.
This all feels… Really discriminatory, and she's stuck in a catch 22. They told her she can't come back to work until she's back at 100%, but she very likely has MS and transverse myelitis, she's never going to be at 100% again. She is going to try offering to sign something saying she won't sue if she gets hurt due to her medical issues, but she's at a loss for what else to do.
Being out of work is killing her income but she can't get unemployment because she technically has a second source of income.
Does anyone know if this is legal or if there's any recourse here? In SC. Note, she is NOT on FMLA nor has her boss initiated it.