Education in the Courts University Employee Can Be Sued Personally for Violating FMLA An employee of a public educational institution can be held personally liable for violating the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), notwithstanding the “qualified immunity” defense that otherwise protects public officials from being sued for actions they take in an official capacity. Two courts agreed that an employee who fired a woman for taking FMLA leave was acting in his individual capacity because his actions violated the woman’s statutory right and were objectively unreasonable in light of the law. Kristie Bellow was an employee at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center when she was diagnosed with a facial tumor. Bellow filed the necessary paperwork requesting eight weeks of leave to have the potentially fatal tumor removed and to recover from the surgery. Bellow’s supervisor, Kim Edward Leblanc, a member of the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, approved the request. However, Bellow claimed that, when she returned from her leave of absence, her parking card and identification pass were inoperative. Soon after that, she was notified that she had been terminated, with LeBlanc personally signing her termination letter. Bellow sued LeBlanc as an individual for violating her FMLA rights. LeBlanc moved to have the suit dismissed, invoking the qualified immunity defense. When the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana denied LeBlanc’s motion to dismiss, he appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He fared no better there, with that court affirming the lower court’s decision. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals said there were two issues before it: (1) did Bellow have a clearly established statutory right not to be terminated for taking leave under the FMLA, and (2) if so, was LeBlanc’s decision to terminate her for taking FMLA leave objectively unreasonable in light of that law? Regarding the first issue, the FMLA allows eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid medical leave per year for serious health conditions that impair their ability to work. If denied their FMLA rights, employees have a statutory right to seek monetary and equitable relief from employers who violated their rights. The term “employer” includes any public agencies and state officials acting in their individual capacities. Thus, LeBlanc qualified as a party that could be sued. LeBlanc argued, however, that he was entitled to qualified immunity granted to public officials so they can perform their governmental duties without fear of being sued. Not so, said the appeals court. A public official’s right to qualified immunity can be abrogated if a plaintiff shows that the official’s actions violated a constitutional or statutory right and were objectively unreasonable. On the second issue, the appeals court concluded that a reasonable official would understand that terminating an employee like Bellow for availing herself of FMLA leave -- especially in light of the fact that she had obtained prior approval for the leave -- was a violation of clearly established law. Therefore, LeBlanc’s actions could be deemed unreasonable, and Bellow’s lawsuit against him could proceed.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 17:10:47 +0000
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