His leave was approved every time—then came his performance review

A 17-year Abbott Laboratories employee claims he was fired for taking the very medical leave his employer approved.

Brian Goski, a former Senior Manager of Systems Engineering at the healthcare giant, filed a federal lawsuit on December 31, 2025, in the Northern District of Illinois. His case raises a question that should keep HR leaders up at night: What happens when leave administration and performance management collide?

Goski says he did everything right. He requested leave through proper channels. He got approvals from third-party administrators. His managers signed off. Yet when review time came around, he alleges those same absences were held against him.

The crux of his case centers on a 2023 performance review he received in March 2024. According to court documents, his supervisor praised his "competence and capability to truly excel as a leader" and noted he "holds a lot of insights that can benefit our business." But in the same review, Goski was allegedly told his "visibility did not meet expectations."

The problem, Goski argues, is that his limited visibility stemmed directly from approved FMLA leave for documented medical conditions, including hemochromatosis, irritable bowel syndrome, generalized anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. He says he renewed his intermittent leave annually from 2021 through 2025, and management knew exactly why he was absent.

This was not an...

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