A former employee says Frederick County State's Attorney Scott Rolle violated federal law by firing her for taking "too many sick days."

Amy Hill-Boyer's complaints were presented in a letter sent to the county in mid-October and released Thursday by her attorney, Diana A. Seltzer of Washington. The letter complains of violations of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

Mr. Rolle and Linda Thall of the county attorney's office declined Thursday afternoon to comment on the allegations raised in the letter.

Ms. Hill-Boyer said supervisors in the office harassed her about taking medical leave. According to Ms. Seltzer's letter, Mr. Rolle said, "Just because she has sick leave doesn't mean she can take it."

Ms. Seltzer, who specializes in employment law and teaches at the American University School of Law in Washington, said she was shocked "that the county's chief law enforcement officer refuses to comply with civil law. He's charged with enforcing criminal law but turns a blind eye to FMLA violations."

Because she was fired, Ms. Hill-Boyer said her medical benefits were cut off "just when I needed them the most." Both she and her 11-year-old son have "serious health care issues" and, because she was on medical leave when fired, she is not entitled to unemployment benefits.

Ms. Seltzer said she was at first hopeful that negotiations with Mr. Rolle would be successful, but in mid-October she decided to place the county commissioners and the county's attorney's office on notice that FMLA violations had occurred.

"I'm still hopeful that negotiations will be effective; we want back pay and reinstatement of Mrs. Hill-Boyer's old job," Ms. Seltzer said. "Otherwise we will file a federal suit with U.S. District Court in Baltimore."

Ms. Hill-Boyer was employed by the state's attorney's office for 10 years. During that time she was a "dedicated and high-functioning employee," Ms. Seltzer said, who always had excellent evaluations. She worked as a full-time victim/witness coordinator.

As a victim coordinator, Mrs. Hill-Boyer kept victims of crime apprised of how a case was going and when they would be needed to testify and explained the complex legal process. She helped trial attorneys keep track of witnesses and explain the trial proceedings.

Ms. Hill-Boyer had about 100 hours of sick leave remaining when she was fired in September. In August, her District Court supervisor Kirsten Brown's evaluation rated her excellent on every performance factor except, "Reliability and Dependability." She was denied a bonus.

She indicated that another supervisor, Teresa Bean, and Deputy State's Attorney Nanci Hamm both recommended in August that she not take any more leave.

When her doctor recommended extended FMLA leave until October, she was told that was not acceptable to Mr. Rolle and she could resign or be fired.

According to the FMLA, employees are entitled to 12 work weeks of leave during any 12-month period because of a serious health condition, Ms. Seltzer's letter states.

County Director of Human Resources Mitch Hose urged her to resign.

According to Ms. Seltzer's letter, Ms. Hill-Boyer was told Sept. 1 that she was fired.

The county and the state's attorney's office failed to notify her of her legal rights under the FMLA or provide her with federal forms to complete, Ms. Seltzer said.

Ms. Hill-Boyer said county Human Resources personnel told her Mr. Rolle's office was not subject to county rules about leave.

Ms. Seltzer said she was very disappointed in Mr. Rolle's conduct especially since he is a public official, a lawyer, a prosecutor and charged with enforcing criminal laws.

"All Amy wants is to work," Ms. Seltzer said. "Mr. Rolle's actions are very troubling to me. It's as if the laws of this country don't apply."

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