Articles Posted in Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

Employer retaliates by searching employee's cellphoneA recent decision by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals allows an employee to proceed with his retaliation claim based on evidence suggesting his employer’s decision to search his cellphone was an excuse to try to find support to fire him in retaliation for asserting claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Family & Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”).

Joseph Canada is Black and suffers from serious back problems including herniated discs and arthritis.  He worked for Samuel Grossi and Sons, Inc. for 10 years.  Mr. Canada claims Grossi’s management prevented him from accessing FMLA leave forms, and harassed him when he tried to take time off for his back issues.  He eventually obtained the forms on his own, and took FMLA leave. 

In March 2019, Grossi had a temporary layoff during which it laid off Mr. Canada for a day.  In response, Mr. Canada filed a claim of race and disability discrimination with the United States Equal Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”).  In June 2019, Mr. Canada filed a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against Grossi under Title VII, the ADA and the FMLA.

A recent unpublished decision from the Third Circuit concludes that an employer can fire an employee because it honestly believes she abused her Family & Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) leave.

Marsha VanHook worked as a patient representative for Cooper Health System for approximately nine years.  One of her sons has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (“ADHD”), severe oppositional defiance disorder, chronic depression, and anxiety.

Appeal denied in Family & Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") lawsuitFor many years, Cooper allowed Ms. VanHook to take an intermittent FMLA leave to care for her son when he was not in school or supervised by someone else. However, Ms. VanHook’s supervisor eventually heard from another employee that Ms. VanHook might be using her FMLA leave inappropriately.  In addition, Cooper’s Human Resources Department heard that Ms. VanHook was often using her FMLA Leave immediately before a weekend or another day off, which raised suspicion.

A recent District of New Jersey opinion emphasizes the importance of recertifying an intermittent Family & Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) leave when your employer asks you to do so. An intermittent leave is when you seek permission to take time off, as needed in the future.

Son Comforting MotherMatthew Calio is a corrections officer for the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders, which does business as the Camden County Department of Corrections (“DOC”). Mr. Calio alleges the DOC violated the FMLA and the New Jersey Family Leave Act (“NJFLA”) when it suspended him after he took time off to help care for his mother who suffers from dementia.

On several previous occasions, Mr. Calio asked the DOC for an intermittent family leave so he could help care for his mother, and the DOC granted his request. His most recent request was in 2018, which he sought due to his mother’s intermittent flare ups that caused her to be incapacitated once per month for up to five days. The DOC granted Mr. Calio permission to take up to one week off every four weeks between December 12, 2018 and June 12, 2019.

In need of a family leave? Mother working from home during COVID-19 pandemicThe New Jersey Family Leave Act (“NJFLA”) has been amended yet again, this time in response to the coronavirus epidemic.

Signed into law by Governor Murphy on April 14, 2020, the amendment creates additional reasons why an otherwise eligible employee may use job protected family leave when there is a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease.  The amendment is retroactive to March 25, 2020.

In addition to the previous justifications for an employee taking family leave, including so the employee can provide care made necessary by reason of the birth or adoption of a child, or the “serious health condition” of the employee’s family member, the amendment creates a whole new category of circumstances that now qualify as a basis for a job-protected family leave.

Female employee on family leave for newborn childLast month, New Jersey amended its Family Leave Act to expand the protections it offers to employees in several key ways.  The Family Leave Act is a law that entitles covered employees to take up to 12 weeks off from work over a 24 month period to care for a family member with a serious illness, for childbirth or adoption, or to care for a newborn or newly adopted child.  It requires employers to reinstate employees at the end of a covered family leave, and prohibits employers from retaliating against employees because they took time off pursuant to the Act.

Some of the new protections of the Family Leave Act went into effect immediately, but others do not go into effect until June 1, 2019.  For example, the Family Leave Act currently only applies to employees who work for employers with 50 or more employees.  Starting on June 1, 2019, it will apply to employers that have at least 30 employees.  As a result, many more employees will be covered by the Act.

Similarly, the term “family member” currently includes only children, parents, spouses and civil union partner.  Effective June 1, 2019, family member also will include parents-in-law, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, domestic partners, “any other individual related by blood to the employee” and anyone else with whom the employee can show he or she has a “close association . . . which is the equivalent of a family relationship.”

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that the mixed-motive proof pattern can apply to cases under the Family & Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) even if there is no direct evidence of retaliation.  Under that proof pattern, the employer has the ultimate burden to prove it did not engage in unlawful discrimination or retaliation.

Employee with migraine headache needs FMLA leave.
Joseph Egan began working for the Delaware River Port Authority in July 2008 as a Project Manager for Special Projects.  In March 2012, the Port Authority transferred him to its Engineering Department on a special assignment for an unspecified period of time.

Mr. Egan suffers from migraine headaches, which became much more frequent after he started working in the Port Authority’s Engineering Department.  As a result, he requested an intermittent FMLA leave.  The Port Authority granted his request.

A recent ruling from the District of New Jersey holds that an employer can violate the New Jersey Family Leave Act (“NJFLA”) by firing an employee for submitting a deficient medical certification to support her need for a family leave without giving her an opportunity to correct the deficiency.

Mary Hall-Dingle worked for Geodis Wilson USA, Inc.  In April 2013, she took a medical leave due to severe shoulder pain.  Although she submitted several doctor’s notes, Geodis sent her a letter warning her that if she did not submit documentation supporting her need for a leave, the company would consider her to have abandoned her job and terminate her employment.  In response, Ms. Hall-Dingle submitted additional paperwork to Geodis and the company granted her medical leave under the Family & Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”).

On July 28, 2013, one week before she was scheduled to return from her medical leave, Ms. Hall-Dingle’s son was in a severe car accident.  She left a voice message for her supervisor requesting additional time off so she could stay with her son at the hospital.  She continued to follow up with emails and messages to the company, but never received a response.  Eventually, she told the company she would be ready to return to work on September 9, 2013.

Last week, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an employee cannot establish a retaliation claim under the Family & Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) if his employer honestly believed he abused his right to take time off under the FMLA.

Employer's Mistaken Belief Defeats FMLA Retaliation ClaimFrederick Capps worked as a mixer for Mondelez Global, LLC.  Mr. Capps suffers from Avascular Necrosis, a condition involving a “loss of blood flow, severely limiting oxygen and nutrient delivery to the bone and tissues, essentially  suffocating and causing death of those cells.”  As a result, Mr. Capps has arthritis in both hips and had double hip replacement surgery in 2004.  He also periodically experiences severe pain that can last for weeks.  Accordingly, he requested and Mondelez granted him an intermittent FMLA leave, meaning he could take time off when it was medically necessary.

On February 14, 2013, while he was on an FMLA leave, Mr. Capps went to a local pub for dinner and drinks.  On his way home, he was arrested for drunk driving.  He was released from jail the next morning, Friday, February 15, and took that day off as FMLA leave.  He returned to work on Monday, February 18.

According to a recent report in the New Jersey Law Journal, New Jersey State Assemblyman Reed Gusciora is planning to propose legislation to improve paid family leave benefits.

New Jersey employees entitled to paid family leavesThe New Jersey Paid Family Leave Act, which was passed in 2009, permits eligible employees to take up to 6 weeks of paid family leave per year.  Employees who take family leave receive up to two-thirds of their compensation, with a maximum benefit of $615 per week.

Assemblyman Gusciora is seeking to add protection against retaliation for employees who take time off under the Paid Family Leave Act.  Although there are many other statutes that protect employees against retaliation under certain circumstances, currently there is no such protection in the Act.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that when an employee submits a deficient medical certification in support of a request to take time off pursuant to the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), the employer has to give the employee an opportunity to correct the deficiencies before it can deny the request. The Third Circuit is the federal appellate court which handles appeals stemming from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and the Virgin Islands.

Businesswoman need medical leave from workDeborah Hansler worked for Lehigh Valley Health Network as a technical partner. In March 2013, she began experiencing medical symptoms including shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting. On March 13, she requested an intermittent FMLA leave and submitted her doctor’s supporting medical certification form. The certification indicated that she needed two days off per week for approximately a month. However, it did not identify her medical condition because her doctor had not yet diagnosed her.

Ms. Hansler took a total of 5 days off from work for medical reasons between March 13 and March 25, 2013. Lehigh Valley never asked Ms. Hansler or her doctor to explain why she needed this time off. Instead, on March 28, 2013, the company fired her for “excessive absences” including the five days she took off due to her medical condition. When Ms. Hansler reminded Lehigh Valley that she had requested time off pursuant to the FMLA, Lehigh Valley told her it had denied her request for a leave.

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