The Arizona Court of Appeals recently held in Papias v. Parker Fasteners LLC, No. 1 CA-CV 22-0775 (Ariz. Ct. App. Oct. 17, 2023), that a discharged employee could proceed with his retaliation claim against his former employer. The employee alleged that he had been terminated when he attempted to use earned paid sick time under Arizona’s Fair Wage and Healthy Family Act (the Act), A.R.S. § 23-371 et seq. In holding that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment for the employer, the court of appeals discussed the Act’s rebuttable presumption of retaliation for adverse actions taken against an employee within 90 days of requesting, using, or attempting to use earned sick time.
The plaintiff started work for the employer, and the company front-loaded 40 hours of sick time, despite the employee handbook providing that sick leave accrued over time. The plaintiff took time off from work for various reasons unrelated to illness, but he was paid for those hours as sick time (which was reflected on his pay stubs).
When the plaintiff reached his one-year work anniversary, the employer again front-loaded sick time, and the practice of paying the plaintiff for these non-illness-related absences as sick leave continued.
Despite ostensibly having no remaining sick time, the plaintiff was absent for three days and texted his supervisor each day that he was feeling ill and would not be in to work. (He had also previously told his supervisor he was going to be out of town and...
The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently provided important information about how it plans to handle the surge in data-driven False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam lawsuits. On April 30, 2026, DOJ announc...