Takeaway: Employers must conduct an individualized assessment to determine if they are obligated to provide additional leave as an ADA accommodation to someone who has exhausted FMLA leave or who is not FMLA eligible. Third-party leave administrators can help with this process, but employers must establish clear lines of communication so that employers can provide input on the reasonableness of the leave request, managers are informed when leaves have been approved by the administrator and employees do not receive conflicting information.
An employer may have discriminated against an employee on the basis of her disability when it failed to grant a leave extension and instead fired the employee who had exhausted Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) time off and other approved leave, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.
On July 11, 2016, a direct sales representative, with a record of strong performance, took leave under the FMLA for the birth of her child. She requested, and was ultimately granted, several leave extensions through Feb. 1, 2017, for postpartum depression.
The employer used a third-party leave administrator and advised the employee to communicate only with the administrator. The administrator verbally approved the employee's leave requests but each time was delayed in providing written confirmation.
On Feb. 3, 2017, the employee's doctor submitted a letter to the administrator indicating that the employee's return-to-work date was "unknown at this...
The Health Minister says talk of treatment delays at Starship hospital has been blown out of proportion. The Auckland children's hospital's confirmed about 20 chemotherapy cycles have been delayed...