Involvement in
Termination Decision Exposes HR Manager and Supervisor
to Individual Liability for Violation of the FMLA
In a recent
FMLA case, an employee sued the human resource manager
and a line supervisor for violation of the FMLA her
employment was terminated while she was on leave. The
HR manager and the supervisor argued that they lacked
the requisite control over the employee's FMLA leave to
be liable and that they did not exercise managerial
authority over the employee; nor did they play any role
in the decision whether the employee should be granted
FMLA leave (she was) or nor did they make the decision
to reorganize her department.
The court found that
there were material issues surrounding the HR manager
and supervisor’s involvement in the employees FMLA leave
and the decision to terminate her. Both supervisors
were involved in an on-going e-mail exchange that
anticipated the employee's termination in the event that
she was to exceed the 12 weeks of FMLA leave. Further,
the employer did not inform the employee when her 12
weeks of FMLA leave would be up. Rather, the employer
sat back and made positive statements to the employee
about her continued absence from work and planned return
after the expiration of her 12 weeks of FMLA leave while
at the same time plotting her termination.
Spagnoli v. Brown &
Brown Metro, Inc., Aug. 15, 2007.
Practical Application:
Individual managers and
supervisors may be liable for violation of the FMLA. To
be liable, the manager or supervisor must have some
involvement in the FMLA leave or adverse action decision
at issue, even if that involvement falls short of being
the actual decision maker. Given that defense and
liability costs involved (that can run to seven
figures), managers and supervisors need to know their
FMLA rights and responsibilities. They also need to
know whether the employer will pay their defense (legal)
costs and/or reimburse them in the event of an adverse
judgment. This is not an area where a manager or
employer wants to learn after they have been sued that
the company will not pay their defense costs (which can
easily run to $100K) or an adverse judgment that may
run to a million dollars or more.
If you have any questions regarding FMLA or any other
human resources topic, please contact Dave Hansen at (515)
221-1718
or
hansend@hr-onesource.com.
