In Escriba v. Foster Poultry Farms, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, a federal appellate court in California, held that an employee who takes leave that would qualify for protection under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) may choose not to have that leave count as FMLA leave. Under…
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) updated its guidance to employers and employees on the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The new guidance defines the term spouse under the FMLA as “a husband or wife as defined or recognized under state law for purposes of marriage…
One of the most common and difficult issues employees face is when they have family care giving responsibilities that require them to miss some work and their employers refuse to allow them to take sufficient time off to attend to those responsibilities. Most of us are familiar with these types…
Yesterday, the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Maine, other New England states, and Puerto Rico, affirmed a jury verdict against Walgreens in a Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) case. This case presented an interesting issue of first impression for the First Circuit–whether an employee…
A New Jersey woman, Dr. Mary Beamer, is pursuing a lawsuit against her former employer, Herman Chiropractic Center. In her lawsuit, she claims Herman Chiropractic fired her because she was pregnant. According to a news report about the case, Dr. Beamer claims that she suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum, which is…
On January 27, 2011, the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an employee may not take unpaid leave from work to care for a family member so that he can undergo religious healing rituals. A former employee of the Lahey Clinic, Marial Lucia Tayag, brought the case. The Lahey…
The Maine legislature recently failed to pass legislation that would have protected Maine workers who could not come to work because they were sick. Initially, the proponents of the legislation wanted to pass a law that would require employers to provide paid sick leave. When they could not garner enough…
In late October, President Obama signed into law new protections for families of military personnel who need to take leave from work under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (“FMLA”). The new protections expand on changes implemented less than a year ago which required certain employers to provide…