HR specialist loses FMLA battle with Ascension – could your policies survive
A federal appeals court has backed Ascension after it fired an HR specialist following the end of her FMLA leave and a missed return-to-work date.
On March 3, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment for Ascension Health Alliance in a dispute with former human resources specialist Elizabeth Chitwood. The court’s opinion centers on how Ascension applied its FMLA leave and notice rules, and how it handled Chitwood’s failure to return to work when her approved leave ended.
According to the opinion, Chitwood worked as a human resources specialist for Ascension and, in July 2021, was approved for intermittent FMLA leave for migraines. That approval required her to report each intermittent FMLA absence to the third‑party administrator, Sedgwick, on the same day the absence occurred and to notify her supervisor as soon as practicable. The record showed she used this intermittent leave at least eight times during the summer of 2021.
In late August 2021, Chitwood stopped reporting to work entirely. She requested continuous military leave under the FMLA from August through December 2021 based on her ex‑husband’s military orders. Sedgwick denied that request as not authorized by the FMLA, but she did not return to work after the denial.
In October 2021, she applied for continuous FMLA leave to care for her son, who had a serious health condition. Sedgwick approved...
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