Dive Brief:
- Salesforce violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act when it fired an employee who took medical leave to care for his father, who had cancer, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday.
- The plaintiff in John v. Salesforce, Inc. requested and was approved to take several weeks of FMLA leave. During that time, he claimed that Salesforce “engaged atypically” with one of his clients in order to “establish a negative record.” Shortly after his return, he alleged that Salesforce moved to eliminate his position “for lack of work” and placed him on a nonworking notice period.
- Salesforce allegedly cited a poor performance rating of the plaintiff in its decision, which the plaintiff disputed. He claimed that Salesforce’s reasoning for the layoff was pretextual and related to his association with his father’s disability as well as his use of FMLA leave. Salesforce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dive Insight:
Employers invite legal risk when they make termination decisions involving employees who are caregivers for people with disabilities or who either have taken or are in the process of taking protected medical leave.
The ADA, for instance, prohibits discrimination against employees on the basis of a relationship or association with someone who has a disability, such as a child, spouse or parent, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Employers may not treat such employees less favorably based on assumptions about their job performance while caring for such individuals.
Separately, the FMLA prohibits employers from conduct such as using an employee’s request or use of FMLA leave as a negative factor in employment actions, the U.S. Department of Labor has said.
The plaintiff alleged that Salesforce provided no assignments for him upon his return to work, leaving him to independently secure assignments in contrast to the curated client assignments he received prior to his leave. The plaintiff applied for and was internally cleared to participate in one new project, but he claimed Salesforce nonetheless terminated him for lack of work and due to “various needs of the business.”
Salesforce also allegedly cited a poor performance review despite the plaintiff’s claim that he “exceeded” in attaining his goals in the year preceding his termination. He further claimed that Salesforce blocked his attempts to seek other opportunities within the company, “reinforcing [his] belief that the termination decision was not based on legitimate business reasons.”
Courts have found that employers do not violate the FMLA when they can substantiate the existence of performance issues that led to an employee’s firing. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did so in 2020 when it held that the employer had evidence of such issues supporting its decision to fire an HR manager who had taken FMLA leave to care for her mother.