Last week&rsquo;s column on an Olathe leukemia patient fired from his job at Garmin Ltd. generated lots of reaction.</p><p>Scores of folks wrote me e-mails, sent letters to the editor or appended their comments to the online version.</p><p>For three nights straight, Brad Woodworth&rsquo;s story was a topic on Darla Jaye&rsquo;s radio show.</p><p>Overall, the responses fell into two categories:</p><p>Those who thought it was an outrage that Garmin cut Woodworth loose after five years on the job when he couldn&rsquo;t specify a date for his return to work due to his cancer treatments.</p><p>And those who thought Garmin went above and beyond what it was legally required to do for a sick employee.</p><p>After consulting with experts in employment law, human resources and disability insurance, I&rsquo;ve concluded that the truth falls in the middle.</p><p>And I share the information because many of us could wind up in the same boat as Brad.</p><p>To recap, he was diagnosed with leukemia in April and unable to go to work while undergoing chemotherapy.</p><p>Under federal law, employees of most big and medium-sized businesses are guaranteed at least 12 weeks of unpaid medical leave.</p><p>Brad got that leave. When the time was up, Garmin kept him on its work rolls &mdash; if not its payroll &mdash; for three months more and kept his family health coverage in force.</p><p>&ldquo;We treated Brad with patience, respect and went above and beyond all legal requirements in order to assist him and his family during this challenging time,&rdquo; Garmin said.</p><p>Many large companies would have done what Garmin did. Some more, some less.</p><p>Had Brad worked elsewhere, he might have received short-term disability payments during the six months he was without a regular paycheck.</p><p>Garmin doesn&rsquo;t provide free short-term disability insurance, but employees can pay for such coverage. Brad didn&rsquo;t.</p><p>And as for the extra three months of unpaid leave, Garmin didn&rsquo;t have to provide that. But many companies do so as not to run afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act.</p><p>&ldquo;The statute is clear that granting extended leaves of absence is a recognized form of reasonable accommodation,&rdquo; one lawyer told me.</p><p>Brad&rsquo;s main beef was not his benefits, though. He&rsquo;s upset that his unpaid leave wasn&rsquo;t extended indefinitely so that, conceivably, he could have returned to work when he&rsquo;s well.</p><p>Some companies would have done just that for a valued employee once upon a time, and some still do.</p><p>But in these more impersonal times, experts told me, many companies would do what Garmin did &mdash; fire Brad and let company-paid long-term disability payments kick in.</p><p>&ldquo;There comes a time to move on,&rdquo; an HR chief told me.</p><p>All the same, Woodworth plans to file a complaint with the Kansas Human Rights Commission.</p><p>It&rsquo;ll be interesting to see if that changes Garmin&rsquo;s plans. </p><p>A fundraiser on Brad&rsquo;s behalf is set for next month. </p><p>Garmin intends to contribute, a spokesman said.