Absentys The Science of Absense Management

FMLA Court Decisions...

Jury Awards $19 Million in Disability Discrimination Case Arising from Application of "No-Fault" Absence Policy

A California jury awarded a discharged employee who suffered from panic disorder $4,011,000 in compensatory damages and $15 million in punitive damages on claims of disability discrimination, disparate impact, harassment, and failure to accommodate under the California Family Medical Rights Act, the federal FMLA, and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. The jury verdict included $500,000 against the individual supervisor.

Jury Awards $11.65 Million to Employee Fired After Taking Leave to Care for Parents

A jury in an Illinois federal court has awarded $11.65 million to a man who claimed his employer forced him to choose between his job and caring for his sick parents and ultimately fired him. The jury found that the man’s discharge constituted an intentional infliction of emotional distress and awarded him $750,000 in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages. In addition to the multi-million dollar award against the corporate defendant, the jury held Schultz’s two supervisors individually liable and awarded compensatory damages of $200,000 and punitive damages of $250,000 against each of them.

Jury Awards $333,305 to Employee Who Experienced Interference with His FMLA Rights

James Dotson brought suit claiming that his employer, Pfizer, Inc., interfered with Dotson’s rights to leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and that it discharged Dotson in retaliation for his exercise of those rights. A jury awarded Dotson $1,875 on his FMLA interference claim and $331,429 on his retaliation claim. On appeal, Pfizer submitted that the district court should have granted judgement in its favor because no evidence suggested that Dotson applied for FMLA leave or exercised his FMLA rights. The company thus argued that it could not have intended to retaliate against Dotson for using his FMLA rights when he did not actually exercise those rights. The 4th Circuit rejected Pfizer’s argument and affirmed the jury awards, holding that an employee need not specifically invoke the FMLA, nor use any “magic words,” in order to later proceed on an FMLA interference or retaliation claim.