Alteration of FMLA Medical Certification Results in Criminal Indictment of NJ Postal Worker for Forgery, Tampering with Public Records

A postal employee from Brick, New Jersey was indicted on forgery and tampering with public records charges for altering an medical certification in order to obtain additional FMLA leave.  

As reported in the Friday, July 18, 2008, Asbury Park Press, an Ocean County grand jury indicted Brick New Jersey postal worker Vincent Dawidowicz for altering a medical certification originally prepared by his physician.  Dawidowicz, according to the article, added that he suffered from a lifetime condition for which he would need to take two to three days of FMLA leave once or twice a month. 

If convicted, Dawidowicz faces up to five years in prison.  Under New Jersey law, forgery is a third degree crime carrying a maximum prison term of five years.  Tampering with public records is a fourth degree crime with a maximum eighteen-month prison sentence.

Comment: Altering an FMLA medical certification is NEVER a good idea. Courts have consistently sustained the discharge of employee's who have altered their FMLA medical certification.  As demonstrated by Mr. Dawidowicz, employee's also run the risk of criminal penalties.  Even if the prospect of actual prison time is remote (particularly for a first offense), a criminal record for forgery and tampering with public records will, for all practical purposes, render an individual unemployable for a wide range of decent paying jobs.  Being stuck on the bottom rung of the income ladder will have lasting effects for the employee and the employee's family.  There is also the high legal cost of defending a criminal indictment, to say nothing of the public shame for the employee and the employee's family.  

Employees who believe that their FMLA medical certification does not accurately describe their need for FMLA must work within the system to correct the certification.  That means the employee should go back to their medical provider to secure the changes.  If the medical provider is unwilling to change the certification, there is a whole telephone book full of medical providers the employee can try.  The FMLA does not require that you stick with your original medical provider in order to modify a medical certification.  Employee's who, through frustration with the system, take matters into their own hands with a few strokes of the pen run the considerable risk of losing everything.  DON'T DO IT!     

The full Asbury Park Press article is attached     http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080718/NEWS02/807180474/1001/NEWS