Plaintiff appealed the grant of summary judgment for defendant on her employment law claims under the Missouri Human Rights Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, and §1981. Plaintiff, an African American woman, was employed by defendant, which had an attendance policy that required notice of any upcoming absences; three or more consecutive absences without notice would constitute voluntarily abandonment of employment. Plaintiff developed mental health issues and had multiple unexcused absences, resulting in a written warning. Plaintiff submitted a claim for intermittent FMLA leave. However, when her mental health didn’t improve, she requested continuous leave or short-term disability. When plaintiff failed to submit verifying medical information, defendant’s claims administrator denied the claim. After nine days of absence, defendant terminated plaintiff’s employment.
Where plaintiff failed to submit competent comparator evidence, she could not show that her termination for violations of the attendance policy was pretextual, as plaintiff was not approved for continuous leave since she failed to submit verifying medical information.
Judgment is affirmed.
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