Employment lawyers can prove a case of discrimination even though an employee is granted all of his or her allotted time under the Family Medical Leave Act.
A former employee with United Airlines was handed a 3 Million dollar verdict from a jury in Denver, Colorado. The jury found that the company retaliated against the employee for complaining about acts of discrimination. New Jersey employment lawyers, and human resource professionals in New Jersey, should play close attention to this case because the legal standards point out that a company can still be liable for discrimination even though it grants an employee all of his or her allotted time under the Family Medical Leave Act.
Plaintiff lost her job as a ramp-services supervisor in March 2006. She had been employed by the company for 12 years. The plaintiff has a disabled 3 year old son. The plaintiff requested alternative jobs in 2005 when she anticipated complications with her pregnancy. The plaintiff contended that the request was denied. Her son was born 11 weeks premature.
The plaintiff had utilized all of her family medical leave, vacation time and sick leave. She then requested unpaid leave but was denied. The company instructed the plaintiff to return to work in March 2006. The plaintiff did not return to work and was fired. The plaintiff alleged in her discrimination lawsuit that the company frequently granted approval on requests for unpaid leave from males in similar positions. The company defended the case by claiming that there was a shortage of ramp supervisors and could not accommodate her request. The company contended that it could not keep the plaintiff's position open. The jury decided that the plaintiff was retaliated against because of her complaints of discrimination but not because she was a woman.
Although the plaintiff prevailed on her retaliation claim, and not the gender discrimination claim, the plaintiff could have prevailed on her gender discrimination claim if the jury believed that she was not treated in the same manner as the male employees when deciding whether to grant unpaid leave to an employee after they exhaust all of their allotted time under leave under the Family Medical Leave Act.
New Jersey also has its own family leave act which is known as the New Jersey Family Leave Act. The New Jersey Family Leave Act has anti-retaliation provision similar to the Federal Family Medical Leave Act.
