Case Name: Thompson v Diocese of Saginaw, Nouvel Catholic Central High School.
Issue: Is an employee entitled to begin her FMLA leave after the birth of a child if her employer failed to tell her that the FMLA leave begins at date of disability and not date of birth? Court: United States District Court - Eastern District of Michigan.
Holding: An employee must show prejudice by employer’s failure to notify leave qualifying under FMLA at time of disability, not date of birth of child.
Plaintiff was employed by Defendant for two years before becoming pregnant. Three months into Plaintiff’s pregnancy, she became unable to work. She did not return to work until after the birth of her child, 33 weeks after commencing her initial leave. After the birth of the child, Plaintiff wrote her employer advising she was taking leave under FMLA for 12 weeks beginning with the birth of the child. Defendant-employer advised Plaintiff that she did not qualify under FMLA because she had not worked 1250 hours in the proceeding 12 months.
Upon her return to work, she was informed that she was assigned to a new position with the same salary and benefits. Feeling as though she was demoted, Plaintiff resigned her position and filed suit against the Defendant-employer on the basis that her rights were violated under FMLA.
When Plaintiff initially advised the Defendant she was unable to work, Defendant-employer failed to advise Plaintiff that her leave was considered to be FMLA. The law is clear that an employer may not retroactively designate leave as FMLA without notice. However, in this case, the Court determined that even if Defendant-employer advised Plaintiff of her rights, she would not have been able to return to work 12 weeks into her initial leave as she was determined to be disabled by her physician at that time.
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