Attorney Geoffrey Fieger, one of Michigan's most prominent lawyers, refused to let one of his employees work from home to care for her sick child during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new lawsuit.

The woman says human resources approved her request to work remotely for two days, and, that she offered to take unpaid leave if necessary because her son was ill.

But Fieger — who for years has worked from his luxury Caribbean hotel that he has long referred to as home — wouldn't budge. He fired her instead, she says, so she sued the legal giant in federal court.

In an employment dispute, 33-year-old attorney Polina Milman alleges Fieger went out of his way to fire her because she needed to work a few days from home to care for her 2-year-old son.

The boy has respiratory issues, became ill during the pandemic and his daycare closed due to COVID-19.

"This was a needless termination of a young mother and attorney who simply wanted to do her job and needed a few days off because her child was experiencing Covid symptoms," said the woman's lawyer, prominent employment law attorney Deborah Gordon. "It should have been no problem — in fact HR approved the leave ... As it turned out, only a few days later my client would have been working remotely per the Governor's order. Now she is without any employment."

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2020/08/12/geoffrey-fieger-lawsuit-mom-remote-work/3350615001/