Dive Brief:
- A bus driver who was fired shortly after requesting unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act for migraine headaches failed to show that he had a chronic serious health condition that qualified for FMLA leave, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held Oct. 11.
- The employer in Rodriquez v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority fired the driver for accumulating too many negative attendance points. The plaintiff took his final absence due to migraine headaches. Following that absence, the employer held a hearing in which it recommended discharging the plaintiff. He requested FMLA leave after the hearing and visited a physician to obtain paperwork supporting his FMLA claim, but the employer approved his termination regardless.
- The employee sued, claiming retaliation and FMLA interference. A jury returned a split verdict, but the employer moved for judgment as a matter of law, which the district court granted. The 3rd Circuit upheld the decision, finding that the employee had never seen a healthcare provider for his headaches outside of the visit to obtain FMLA paperwork, which showed that he did not have a chronic serious health condition at the time of his leave request.
Dive Insight:
In its FMLA guidebook, the U.S. Department of Labor specifies that the FMLA definition of “serious health condition” includes any illness, injury, impairment or physical or mental condition that involves inpatient care or continuing treatment by a healthcare provider. It does not include “routine medical conditions, such as a physical, or to common medical conditions, such as an upset stomach, unless complications develop,” according to DOL.
Likewise, the 3rd Circuit said that, under the FMLA’s regulations, a chronic serious health condition requires periodic healthcare provider visits at least two times per year. The plaintiff could not meet this bar, having never visited a provider to treat his migraines prior to his termination recommendation and instead managed them by “drinking ginger root tea, taking Tylenol, and avoiding certain dietary triggers,” per the court.
The plaintiff’s FMLA form, obtained from his doctor after his termination, did state that his condition would require twice-per-year visits, but this was “of no moment,” the 3rd Circuit found.
“[The plaintiff] recognized that the information in the form, completed nearly a month after his absence, applied prospectively,” the court said. “To repeat, the ‘operative time for determining whether a particular condition qualifies as a serious health condition is the time that leave is requested or taken.’”
Employer documentation like that in Rodriquez has helped many employers defend FMLA claims. In 2022, the 8th Circuit found that Drake University maintained a well-documented list of reasons for firing a former budget manager who alleged that a dean had harassed her over medical-related absences. Similarly, an employee’s documented performance issues were cited in a 2019 decision by the 9th Circuit holding that her employer did not interfere with her rights under the FMLA.
In other cases, an employee’s failure to file FMLA paperwork can lead to a court rejecting their claims. The 3rd Circuit had one such decision in 2021, when it held that a Drexel University employee did not submit necessary forms in order to extend her leave.