Suppose an employee is on family and medical leave to care for an ill family member, but you discover they’re also using the time for their own recreation. Can you discipline or terminate the worker for misusing the leave? We’ll look at a new Cali- fornia appeals court ruling that gives you latitude to handle this situation.
Care or Recreation?
Ronald McDaneld was a mechanic for the Eastern Municipal Water District Board in Riverside County. He requested and was granted a one-week leave to care for his father, who was having ankle surgery.
McDaneld tended to his father for the first six days of the leave, and on the seventh, he claimed he stayed home to care for his pregnant wife who had injured her back. During the week, McDaneld also played a few hours of golf.
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Employee Discharged
After an investigation, the water district concluded that McDaneld should have come to work on the last day of the leave, when neither his father nor wife—whose injury the district believed was feigned—needed care, and that he misused his leave earlier in the week by playing golf. These findings, along with the employer’s belief that McDaneld was untruthful about the circumstances of his leave, led to McDaneld’s termination.McDaneld sued, claiming the discharge violated his right to take family leave under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). He contended he didn’t know he was prohibited from recreational activities while caring for his father and he didn’t know he had to return to work immediately once he stopped caring for his father.
Termination Upheld
Now a California Court of Appeal has dismissed the lawsuit. According to the court, an employee’s honest mistake may excuse a trivial misuse of family leave, such as returning to work a day late. But, the court said, McDaneld’s termination was justified by the water district’s conclusion that he had misused the leave by playing golf and was untruthful during the district’s investigation into his activities during the leave. A termination doesn’t violate family leave rights if the employer has a reasonable good-faith belief the employee abused the leave.
Practical Steps
This case demonstrates that your hands aren’t tied if an employee misuses family and medical leave. However, before taking an adverse action, thoroughly investigate and scrupulously document your findings. If the abuse is minor, err on the side of caution and refrain from imposing harsh discipline.
Better yet, to avoid misunderstandings, provide employees with clear information regarding their family leave rights and obligations. Inform employees in writing that while they are on family leave, their activities are restricted to those consistent with the reason they gave for family leave. Also be sure to specify when an employee must return to work.