Kirk J. Angel’s Answers

Employers in North Carolina are free to refuse to hire you for any reason; good reason, bad reason or no reason at all. You can file a legal claim for refusal to hire if the reason is related to unlawful discrimination (and in rare cases unlawful retaliation). Neither of these reasons seem to apply to your situation. This may not be a "legit" reason, but it appears to be a lawful reason based on the information you provided.

If you were an employee, you can contact the NC Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division and file a claim free of charge. I am including a link to Wage and Hour's website below.

Employers are not required to provide maternity leave in North Carolina. However, if the employer has 50 or more employees, then you may be entitled to FMLA coverage for your maternity leave. If your company is not covered, or you are not eligible, then only other possibility would be the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. If they give medical leave to employees for non-pregnancy related reasons, it is possible to have a pregnancy discrimination claim.

No you cannot be "forced" to sign it. However, if you do not, then he is not forced to keep you as an employee. You must decide whether it is better to sign now and risk being unemployable if you lose your job or not sign and lose your job now. Keep in mind that you could sign it today and he could fire you tomorrow. North Carolina is an employment-at-will state and you can be fired at any time for any reason.

If the allegation of abuse is substantiated, you will be provided with a letter that will allow you to appeal the determination. The appeal must be filed with the Office of Administrative Hearings within 30 days of the letter. You will then be set for a hearing (trial) with an Administrative Law Judge. If you win, then your name will not be listed in the Healthcare Personnel Registry. If you lose, or do not appeal a substantiated finding, then your name will be on the Registry effectively...

North Carolina is an employment at will state and you can be fired for any reason. The law does not require an employer to accommodate a restriction in most cases. The exceptions would be (1) if the restriction rises to the level of a disability as defined by the Americans With Disabilities Act or (2) if the employer unlawfully discriminates by allowing certain employees to work with the same restrictions that it will not allow you to work with. You said you were inured off site, but did not...

I think attorneys may be hesitant to answer this question in an open forum such as this. I recommend contacting some attorneys to see what they charge.

If the DES (formerly ESC) determined that you are not eligible for unemployment benefits, you should appeal the decision immediately. The issue is whether you engaged in misconduct or substantial fault. If you had disclosed that you were a felon and/or they were aware of it, it seems unlikely that there was misconduct or substantial fault. Make sure you retain an attorney to represent you at the appeal hearing. Of course that does not change the fact that they could fire you for your...

No, not in the legal sense. Unlawful hostile environment exists when an employee is subjected to certain types of conduct due to an unlawful discriminatory factor such as race or sex. However, even if this was directed to you due to unlawful discrimination, not assigning you work would not be the basis for an unlawful hostile work environment claim. On the other hand, it could be the basis for a claim of unlawful discrimination. Since you resigned it will be tough to get your...

No. There is a specific law, sometimes called the Smoker's Law, that prohibits such a termination, at least in general. The law is N.C. Gen. Statute 95-28.2 prohibits discrimination against an employee for lawful use of a lawful product on non-work hours. There are some exceptions so you should be careful. I am including a link to the law below.