The employee may not have any rights in the situation you describe. An employee may be fired for insubordination, even if he or she is under stress or presents a "stress leave" letter; being stressed is not a disability for which the law provides protection. (Consider: if it was grounds to resist termination, nobody would ever be fired, because everyone is stressed at work.) Conversely, an employer has a perfect right to fire an insubordinate employee, especially one who has had "multiple consults" about the issue. An employee is not obligated to provide leave to/for an employee, unless the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or similar state law is implicated--but employers with only 10 employees are not covered by the law (and again, "stress" probably would not be a serious enough condition to invoke the law, anyway).Therefore, from what you write, the employer should not have to protect itself, and had the right to do what it did. That said, all lawsuits should be taken seriously, so if sued--or you believe a suit likely--consult with an employment law attorney. Good luck.