medical leave

Employer Can Fire Employee it Honestly Believes Abused FMLA Leave

May 4, 2022 | by Jonathan I. Nirenberg

A recent unpublished decision from the Third Circuit concludes that an employer can fire an employee because it honestly believes she abused her Family & Medical Leave Act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

For 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.

New Jersey Enacts New Sick Leave Law

May 11, 2018 | by Jonathan I. Nirenberg

New Sick Leave Requirements

Earlier this month, Governor Phil Murphy signed an important new employment law that requires employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees. Specifically, New Jersey’s new paid sick leave law requires employers to provide most employees one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours they work. Employers must permit employees to use this earned sick leave for:

The employee’s diagnosis, care, treatment, or recovery from a mental or physical illness or injury, or preventive medical care;

Employer Must Prove it Did Not Retaliate in Violation of FMLA

April 18, 2017 | by Jonathan I. Nirenberg

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.

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.

Assemblyman Hopes to Improve New Jersey Paid Family Leave

January 9, 2017 | by Jonathan I. Nirenberg

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.

The 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.