Showing posts with label FMLA. Show all posts

FMLA info required

How often is it an employer is concerned about whether a FMLA leave request is warranted and does not receive adequate "medical facts" to evaluate the request. A bit of good news comes from this opinion of the 9th Circuit. The employee submitted a Form WH-380 certification, but it lacked the underlying facts for the diagnosed serious health condition. The court held an employees refusal to provide additional information rendered the certification deficient, and upheld her "removal from employment."

Employers FMLA notice procedures not required

The Fifth Circuit has reversed a grant of summary judgment to a FMLA employer which terminated a covered employee for not following the employer's own internal notification process. The employee, who suffered from a serious mental incapacitation, and whose mother, as court appointed guardian, communicated with the employer, according to the  Court, provided sufficient notice to meet FMLA's minimum notification procedures. Of interest is the Court's footnote which suggests the result might have been different under the  revisions to 29 C.F.R. § 825.303—which arguably increase the duties imposed upon employees seeking FMLA leave.

Attendance not essential

Attendance, FMLA and the ADA. The combination can be a toxic brew for employers. When does intermittent absence render an employee unqualified? The Fifth Circuit's opinion in Carmona v. Southwest Airlines Company provides an interesting answer. More after the jump.
The plaintiff, was granted intermittent FMLA leave for 7 years. He missed several days a month due to a disability. His FMLA leave was not renewed because he had not worked enough hours to qualify. The company attendance policy was based on a point system which did not count FMLA leave. The employee "pointed out" and was terminated because he could not fulfill the attendance requirements. The plaintiff won a jury verdict on his ADA claim which was vacated by the trial court. The Fifth Circuit (Garwood, Owens, Southwick) reverses. The opinion makes it clear that an employer's FMLA accommodation may carry over to ADA issues and affect whether attendance is an essential function of every job, which had appeared to be the law in this circuit.  Money quote:
Therefore, while a regular attendance schedule was not an essential requirement of Carmona’s position, Southwest could have argued that attendance on scheduled days was required. But under the facts of this case, Southwest could not have prevailed on this argument, either, because there was sufficient evidence that its own actions reflected that attendance on scheduled days was not required. Southwest approved Carmona’s intermittent FMLA leave,  which permitted [fn 3 Albeit through a third-party administrator.] Carmona to miss over half of each working month without notice. Southwest’s attendance policy then prevented these absences from being counted against him.  If Southwest had denied Carmona’s request for intermittent FMLA leave, it might have had a strong argument that as a matter of law Carmona was not qualified to work as a flight attendant. However, under the facts of this case, it could reasonably be found that Southwest essentially conceded that Carmona was qualified by granting him intermittent FMLA leave and then tolerating his FMLA-approved absences for seven years.  Furthermore, Southwest did not assert at trial that it had terminated Carmona because his disability prevented him from showing up to work consistently on his scheduled days.  And it does not do so now.  Instead, Southwest argues that it terminated him because it believed that he had violated its attendance policy.  

FMLA claim costly for employer

MNNBC focuses on the plight of a retail store manager who claims she was coerced into returning to work too soon after surgery. Using this anecdotal incident the author claims the economy is creating widespread fear of job loss in those who are entitled to take sick leave. However there is little additional information supporting the premise. After being fired the manager successfully sued winning an eye-popping $8.1 Million jury verdict or FMLA violations.

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