posted on Thursday, September 29, 2005 6:25 PM
by
Lou Michels
More FMLA Fun
The FMLA continues to be a source of problems for employers, if for no other reason than there is so much ambiguity built into the statute about notice and what actually constitutes FMLA-based discrimination or retaliation. A recent federal case from Connecticut further clouds the issues by holding that repeated requests for additional medical information can be a form of retaliation and actionable under the FMLA. In a case involving Coach USA, the federal judge refused to credit the company's argument that requests for additional medical information, which were made primarily by a third-party contractor with no decision-making power within the company, could not be used as a basis for a retaliation claim. Instead, the court said that the employer systematically raised a series of obstacles to the plaintiff's return to work and never told him exactly what documentation was necessary for recertification and was never satisfied with what was submitted.
For anyone who has tried to work through the maze of third-party health benefits administration and short- or long-term disability insurance claims, this case is a recognizable nightmare. Bureaucratic ineptitude does not equal FMLA retaliation, although in this case, it apparently did. Employers now are charged with making sure that their employees coming back from FMLA leave are not subject to the same run around that everybody else gets as a matter of course. Troubling.