When Comedy Central briefly suspended new episodes of “The Colbert Report” in February, reports surfaced that host Stephen Colbert had left New York to be with his ailing 91-year-old mother.
Later, Colbert told viewers he had just returned from a week in Charleston, S.C. The youngest of 11 children, he is very close to his mother, Lorna. In 1974, when Colbert was 10 years old, his father and two older brothers were killed in a plane crash.
As the star of his show, there was no question Colbert’s job would be there when he got back. But his sudden departure may have workers wondering whether they too have the right to take a leave in the case of a family health emergency or the grave illness of a relative. The answer: not necessarily.
Washington Work and Family Coalition 