Takeaway: A timely, thorough investigation of an honest suspicion of leave abuse can help defend a company from liability under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) claims of an employee who was placed on a 30-day suspension after an investigation by his employer, which had an honest suspicion of leave abuse.
Both the employee, a machine repairperson, and his wife were longtime employees of the same Indiana transmission plant operated by FCA US LLC. In 2017, the couple submitted requests supported by certifications from their health care provider for time off under the FMLA. The husband and wife sought intermittent time off to deal with their health conditions, which included anxiety, depression and back pain for the husband and irritable bowel syndrome for the wife.
Throughout the year, the employer provided both spouses with intermittent time off every time they requested it, and the husband's time off even exceeded the time off certified by his health care provider.
By the end of the year, however, the company's FMLA claims administrator flagged a significant pattern of overlap in the dates the couple took intermittent leave. The couple took 21 days off on the same dates, in addition to 27 days on which their partial-day absences overlapped. The company conducted an investigation, during which the couple couldn't explain why their leave requests overlapped as much as they did, and their...
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