The article in question reported that Douglas Rydalch, a Sales Agent for Southwest Airlines, tried to bring an Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) interference case up against his former employer.
Rydalch had a back injury that would flare up on occasion, and when it did he’d take leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). While that’s all well and good, his injury seemed to flare up just before, or after, his regularly scheduled time off — particularly around public holidays.
For example: He used FMLA leave in conjunction with July 4, Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, as well as around his birthday. All up, he took FMLA leave in conjunction with regular days off at least 35 times.
Understandably, Southwest were beginning to get suspicious and began to monitor Rydalch’s FMLA use. And when he again took leave on Dec. 26 and 27, they terminated him for abusing FMLA leave and violating the company’s attendance policy.
But not to be outdone, Rydalch returned serve by filing a lawsuit against Southwest for FMLA retaliation and interference.
However the case didn’t last long and a federal court quickly threw out his lawsuit – as Southwest’s thorough documentation of Rydalch’s leave requests provided them with a very strong reason to believe that he was abusing his FMLA privileges.
Therefore, the court ruled Southwest was well within its rights to terminate Rydalch.
As HR Morning advises, this case serves as a good reminder to organisations to keep accurate records of employee leave requests. Then, if leave abuse is suspected, management will be able to show in court it has legitimate reasons for taking action against the offending employee.
Read the full article here
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