Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA),
eligible employees can take up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave per year for a
variety of reasons, including caring for close family members with serious
health conditions. An employee may use
paid sick, personal or vacation leave as part of the FMLA leave. An employer may not interfere with an
employee’s exercise of this right and they cannot terminate an employee for
taking FMLA leave.
Employers were without much
recourse against employees who exploit the FMLA, until a 2012 Seventh Circuit
decision.
In Scruggs v. Carrier Corp., the Seventh Circuit recently held that
employers may terminate employees who are suspected of violating the FMLA as
long as the employer has an “honest suspicion” or “honest belief” that the
leave was being abused. In other words,
an employer can defeat a claim by the employee if they show that the employee
did not take the leave “for the intended purpose.”
In Scruggs, an employee was fired after an investigation showed that he
did not leave his house on a day that he claimed he was taking his mother to a
medical appointment. The investigation
consisted of a private investigator hired by the employer to provide
surveillance on the employee. After
being fired, the employee sued arguing that he did take his mother to her appointment
and that the employer did not conduct a thorough investigation. The Seventh Circuit ruled that the employer’s
honest belief of abuse was sufficient to rule in their favor. The decision provides some comfort to
employers and allows them to more aggressively police employees abusing the
FMLA.
The Sixth Circuit similarly held
this year, in Seeger v. Cincinnati Bell
Telephone Co., that an employer can fire an employee as long as there is an
honest suspicion of abuse. The Sixth
Circuit also ruled that an employer cannot rely on suspicion alone – some form
of investigation must be conducted. In Seeger, the Plaintiff’s co-workers saw
him at a local Oktoberfest festival, walking unhindered despite his supposed back
injury, and informed their employer. This
was sufficient to support the employer’s honest belief.
One thing is for sure – employers
can now rest easier knowing they have a way of combatting employee abuse of the
FMLA.
