After Muldrow, even a fully paid suspension can become the employer's legal problem

Parking an employee on paid leave while you investigate just got riskier, a federal appeals court has signaled.

On June 15, 2026, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit revived two claims brought by Jaleelah Hassan Ahmed, superintendent of Hamtramck Public Schools in Michigan. A lower court had dismissed her case. The appeals court ruled she should be allowed to move forward on a retaliation claim under the Family and Medical Leave Act and a sex discrimination claim under Title IX.

The story, as the court framed it at this early stage, starts with leave. On her physician's advice, Ahmed took FMLA medical leave - protected time off for health reasons - from October 2021 to January 2022. As she prepared to come back, the board president emailed to "inform her she was prohibited from returning to work" and that she was on paid leave "pending investigation into alleged misconduct." She stayed on paid leave for more than a year.

Ahmed alleged the district never told her what it was looking into, never gave her a chance to respond, and never actually ran an investigation. She also alleged the district announced the investigation publicly. According to her complaint, she had filed discrimination charges with the EEOC and the Department of Labor.

The district court dismissed the claims, relying on the familiar idea that paid leave during a "timely" investigation is not a "materially adverse"...

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