Earlier this week, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict against a company that fired an employee, Tracy Wink, because she needed leave to care for her autistic son. The jury found that Wink’s termination violated the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Wink had to…
Last week, the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in a Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) case which involved claims against Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations. The court held that Bridgestone unlawfully interfered with the FMLA rights of Lucas Hernandez, a tire builder Bridgestone fired because of attendance.…
The Center for Work Life Law recently published a study on litigation trends in family responsibility discrimination cases which found a dramatic increase in such claims. Family responsibility discrimination occurs when an employer discriminates against an employee because s/he has family caregiving responsibilities, such as caring for newborn children, elderly…
Last week a federal court in New Hampshire held that a jury could reasonably find that First Data Merchant Services (“First Data”) violated the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) when it fired Jessica Fountain, a former First Data account executive. Ms. Fountain took FMLA leave in 2009 because of…
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…
The AARP Public Policy Institute recently released a paper on workplace discrimination against workers who have to care for an elderly relative. As the baby boomer generation continues to age, this will become an increasingly important issue. While there are a patchwork of federal, state, and local laws that, in…