Eligible employees who work for Florida employers that are covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act may take approved leave in order to recover from a serious health issue or to care for a family member who is suffering from one. Employers are not allowed to retaliate against workers who request or take leave as demonstrated by a November ruling by a federal district court in Ohio.
.The case involved a manager of a construction company who had complained about a workplace safety violation which the company refused to correct. The company threatened to fire him if he made any additional safety complaints. He had always received excellent performance evaluations.
The man later asked to take FMLA leave for a health condition. The company told him that it had not won a contract that it had bid on and that it was furloughing him. No other workers were furloughed. The man filed a lawsuit, claiming that the furlough was retaliation for his leave request. The court ruled that the man could move forward with his retaliation claim because he had shown there was a causal relationship between his asking to take FMLA leave and being furloughed just two days later.
People who are terminated, refused a raise or promotion or otherwise retaliated against by their employers for requesting or taking leave under the FMLA may want to get FMLA discrimination law firm assistance with their cases. An attorney may review the facts of what happened and help the client with filing a lawsuit if negotiations with the employer have proven to be fruitless.