Family And Medical

Washington -- This is a story about high-stakes politics and whether the federal government can help everyday Americans -- and about a little girl who touched the president and then went home to die.Melissa Weaver lives on in the speeches of President Clinton, who mentions her when he wants to show people that government can make a difference in their lives. His signature on a single bill made it possible for Melissa to get her dying wish.The story has two trails. Both start in Houston, but they enanywhere in America where there are voters.

A federal appeals court threw out yesterday a $375,000 jury award to a Maryland State Police flight paramedic and ordered a new trial to determine the damages owed to him after he was denied extended parental leave when his wife became pregnant. Howard Kevin Knussman, 44, was awarded the damages in 1999 based on evidence that the state police discriminated against him and violated the federal Family and Medical Leave Act by denying him leave to care for his newborn daughter because he is a man. Knussman, who retired two years ago after 23 years on the force, said he considers the ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., a victory because it also affirmed that the state police violated his rights.

Stephanie J. Monroe Occupation Assistant secretary of the Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education. In the news Monroe, 47, was sworn in two weeks ago. She is responsible for ensuring that students have equal access to education and for enforcing civil rights laws to prevent discrimination and harassment based on race, gender or disability. Career highlights Born and raised in Baltimore, she graduated from Randallstown High School and graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in government and politics.

CINCINNATI -- The Ohio Civil Rights Commission is pushing for a broad expansion of benefits for pregnant workers. If its proposals are adopted, Ohio would join 18 states that require employers to offer maternity leaves that exceed those mandated by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. That law offers workers at businesses with 50 or more employees 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Expectant mothers must have worked for a business for a year, or 1,250 hours, to be eligible. The Ohio commission has proposed that businesses with four or more employees offer 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave to pregnant employees, regardless of how long they have worked.

Andy Harris, the only Maryland Republican serving in Congress, voted against reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act last week, but he didn't call and tell me that. Word of Harris' vote came from the Democratic Party — specifically, a news release from state chair Yvette Lewis, who blasted the 1st District congressman for his nay on the VAWA: "Today, by voting against the Violence Against Women Act, Congressman Andy Harris decided to continue his trend of voting against bipartisan legislation that would help people in the First District and Maryland.  "Eighty-seven House Republicans voted for this legislation, which is a reauthorization of vital support for organizations that serve victims of domestic violence.

My mother went into paid work soon after my father's clothing store was flooded out in a hurricane, almost wiping him out. She had no choice. We needed the money. This was some two decades before a tidal wave of wives and mothers went into paid work. For the relatively few women with four-year college degrees, this change was the consequence of wider educational opportunity and new laws against gender discrimination that opened professions to well-educated women. But the vast majority of women entered the paid workforce because male wages were dropping.

Federal regulators have proposed relatively minor changes to the popular Family and Medical Leave Act, a relief for advocates who had feared a sweeping rewrite that would have made it difficult for people to take advantage of it. The proposals, released this month by the Department of Labor, would give employers more leeway in verifying that people taking medical leave are sick. The proposals would impose other restrictions that business groups said might curb what they see as a major problem: employees who leave their bosses short-handed on short notice.

I read your recent column about a woman who wanted to take time off from work after adopting an infant. I am a man who is planning to adopt, and I am wondering if I am entitled to a leave. Your gender doesn't matter. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act, the primary law regarding employees' time off after the birth or adoption of a child, doesn't focus on an employee's gender. "An eligible male employee is entitled to FMLA leave where a son or daughter is placed with that employee for adoption or foster care," said Jeffrey Naness of Naness, Chaiet & Naness in Jericho, N.Y. However, as a previous column mentioned, other criteria apply for the unpaid leave.

I am a salaried, exempt employee and have used up all my vacation and sick days for 2005. The company maintains that if I take any more time off this year, it will dock my pay in 2006. Is this legal? You're in better straits than you realize. If you're truly exempt from federal overtime and minimum-wage laws, the company can't dock you for partial days. To do so would nullify your exemption. But your employer can dock your salary when you take off full days. And if you have no vacation or sick time left, the company can dock your salary.

City employees in Annapolis will be able to include same-sex domestic partners on their health plans starting July 1, Mayor Joshua J. Cohen announced Tuesday. Annapolis joins several jurisdictions across the state that grant benefits to same-sex partners. The announcement comes amid reports that the federal government will issue regulations this week ordering businesses to provide gay employees with equal family and medical leave. "The change will create a more equitable work environment and help make the city more competitive in attracting top talent," Cohen, a Democrat, said in a statement on Annapolis benefits.