News & Analysis as of

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Termination Employer Liability Issues

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

FMLA brain teaser!

Try wrapping your head around this one. All of you experts on the Family and Medical Leave Act, gather 'round! The following is from a real lawsuit that was filed Wednesday in federal court in Indianapolis. The plaintiff...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

3 things that will make an employer's case go down to defeat

Mayday! Mayday! Lately I’ve written about some court decisions that were good for employers. (See here and here.) The reason the outcomes were good is that the employers did the right things before their cases even got to...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Supreme Court Denies Review of Fourth Circuit's 'Honest Belief' FMLA Defense

Earlier this year, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia) issued a decision that provides employers with an important defense to some Family and Medical Leave Act...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

FMLA leave: 5 things this employer (allegedly) did wrong

Don't be this employer. (Allegedly.) Not long ago, I posted about an employer who won summary judgment in an FMLA case and noted five things that the employer did right, which helped it win. Sad to say, a decision came out...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

FMLA abuse: 5 things this employer did right

How'd that happen? An employer who terminated an employee after he took intermittent FMLA leave for diabetes won its case, and recently won again on appeal. According to both courts, the employee appeared to be trying to...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Don’t let a bad employee’s protected activity lead you into the twilight zone.

You are about to enter another dimension. A journey into the world of discrimination and retaliation. Consider, if you will, the case of an employee who suspects that he or she is about to be fired or demoted for misconduct...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Eighth Circuit Chips Away at ‘Honest Belief’ Defense and Creates ‘Intertwinement Test’ for Disability Discrimination Cases

On July 1, 2024, in Huber v. Westar Foods, Inc., in a 2–1 decision, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals departed from the “honest belief” defense recognized by the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Seventh Circuits (and U.S....more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

FMLA Requires Employers to Adjust Work Expectations

When we talk with employers about employees taking Family and Medical Leave Act leave, we sometimes get questions about the impact of the employee’s absence on the business. We in turn explain that the FMLA is an entitlement,...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Want to fire your employee for FMLA fraud?

Don't shoot from the hip. Let's say you have an employee who is in Week Six of "employee's own serious health condition" leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Her co-worker comes to you and tells you that the...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Eleventh Circuit Holds FMLA Retaliation Requires “But-for” Showing

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision that “but-for” is the proper causation standard for FMLA retaliation claims addressed within the...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

Terminating Poor Performers During or After FMLA or ADA Leave: Key Considerations

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on

Performance management is one of the most important–and difficult–issues that employers face in supervising their workforce. Dealing with performance problems becomes even harder when an underperforming employee requests or...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Fit for duty? Be careful what you ask for.

At one time or another, one of your employees may have had a serious health condition resulting in multiple absences, followed by a release to return to work with restrictions that you believed prevented the employee from...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Fourth Circuit Reinstates Employee’s Claim That Social Media App Messages Provided Sufficient Notice of a Medical Absence

On August 15, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held in Roberts v. Gestamp West Virginia, LLC, that an employer’s “usual and customary” notice procedures relating to absences extended beyond the company’s...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

ABCs of Employment Law: Employment at will

So misunderstood! NOTE FROM ROBIN: Earlier this year, I began a series of very basic explanations of the federal laws that govern the workplace. The first installment covered discrimination in general, and the second...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

How A Facebook Messenger Chat Can Become a “Usual and Customary” FMLA Notice Procedure For a Company

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: In a recent ruling, Roberts v. Gestamp (Decided August 15, 2022), the Fourth Circuit reversed, in part, the lower court’s decision to grant the Company’s motion for summary judgment on the grounds that the...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Above-Average Performance Reviews Counter Employer's Grounds for Termination

​​​​​​​“Grade inflation” is a well-known phenomenon in the academic sphere, where grade-point averages creep up over time despite the lack of performance-based reasons for the increase. Grade inflation can also be an issue...more

Amundsen Davis LLC

Employers Must Tread Carefully In FMLA Request Discussions To Avoid FMLA Interference Claims

Amundsen Davis LLC on

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides employees essentially two paths to bring lawsuits for alleged FMLA violations: retaliation claims and interference claims....more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

FMLA "interference" doesn't require denial of leave

The court is right, I think. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued an opinion on Wednesday that provides helpful clarification for employers and their leave administrators. ...more

Rivkin Radler LLP

The Employment Law Reporter - January 2022

Rivkin Radler LLP on

Here is what we cover in this issue of The Employment Law Reporter: •The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has affirmed a district court’s decision dismissing employment discrimination claims brought by a...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Happy Thanksgiving and the Many Things for Which We Are Thankful – 2021 Edition

Many of us are understandably anxious to put another tumultuous year of the pandemic behind us. But before we sit down at the table to fill our plates and bellies to overflowing to celebrate the holiday, we can all find some...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Consistently Inconsistent: An Example of Shifting Reasons for Employment Termination Precluding Summary Judgment

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas recently denied an employer’s motion for summary judgment when its alleged shifting reasons for terminating the plaintiff’s employment contract raised genuine issues...more

McAfee & Taft

FMLA does not prohibit termination for failure to comply with call-in requirements

McAfee & Taft on

Employees can be held accountable for not complying with an employer’s call-in notice requirement, even when the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) may apply. In Koch v. Thames Healthcare Group, LLC, the employer had an...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Texas Supreme Court Rules Request for Disability Accommodation Does Not Support Retaliation Claim Under State Law

Texas courts generally look to federal courts’ interpretation of federal anti-discrimination laws to assist in interpreting the anti-discrimination provisions of the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (TCHRA). However, the...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

The Insidious Deception That Is "Employment At Will"

Employers, don't get played. "This is an employment-at-will state, and I can fire you for a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason at all." Oh, yeah?... ...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Employer Gets Whacked On Workers' Comp, FMLA Overlap

Bless this employer's heart. Ten years ago or so, every employment lawyer and his sister was calling the interaction between workers' compensation, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act...more

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