Court: Employee couldn’t prove FMLA eligibility

Adam had been working for the company for about two years when his wife became pregnant with their second child. She had difficult pregnancies in the past, and this one was no different. The two lived in separate states for work reasons.

Seven months later, on 10/18, Adam’s wife began having premature labor and Adam told Hal, his supervisor, of the situation. Hal asked Adam if he had time to find a replacement before leaving. Adam said he’d try. Hal asked Adam to fill out a leave slip, which he did. Adam left to be with his wife.

Given the situation, Adam did not succeed in finding a replacement, and his post went unfilled for 7.5 hours.

Adam returned to work on 11/5 and was presented with a last-chance agreement to sign because he had abandoned his post on 10/18. The following month, he was demoted due to the lack of security clearance required for the position.

Adam was terminated the following January, and he sued, arguing that the company both interfered with his FMLA rights and retaliated against him for exercising his rights.

In court, the employer argued that Adam was not eligible to take FMLA leave, as the company did not have 50 or more employees within 75 miles. Therefore, he didn’t have FMLA leave rights.

Adam claimed the following:

• The employer represented that the leave was FMLA, and Adam had relied on this representation to his detriment.
• Hal knew that maternity leave falls under the FMLA; and Adam was instructed to fill out a leave request form before leaving, which Hal approved.
• After 10/18, Adam was informed that he qualified for FMLA leave, including completion of formal FMLA paperwork that was approved.

The court disagreed with Adam, countering with its input that:

• Adam couldn’t show he was eligible for FMLA leave. The company did not have at least 50 employees within 75 miles of Adam’s worksite.
• Adam couldn’t show that he relied on any representation that he was covered by the FMLA before he left on 10/18. The leave request slip was entitled “Vacation, Personal, Sick Request Form,” with noting about the FMLA.
• There was no evidence to indicate that Adam would not have left his post to go to his wife’s side if he had known that he was not eligible for FMLA leave.

The employer won this case, in part because it, including the supervisor, never mentioned the FMLA in relation to the leave before the employee began the leave; even the leave request slip didn’t mention it. If Adam had any evidence that the employer had represented his leave as FMLA before he left, this might have had a different ending.

Friends, always make sure an employee is actually eligible for FMLA leave before saying he or she is.

Adams v. Whitestone Group, Inc., S.D. MD, No. PWG 19-2263, March 23, 2022.