Some people co
mplain about “rheumatism,” backaches and other physical ills when the weather shifts. For a Southwest Airlines employee, his backaches — and resulting requests for Family and Medical Act (FMLA) leave — seemed to follow the same shift as holidays and vacation time. Southwest determined that this was not the whim of nature but a conscious flouting of the rules, and fired him. And a recent court decision that raised FMLA and Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) claims found Southwest was justified in doing so.
Here’s some background. Southwest Douglas Rydalch, a Southwest reservation sales agent, first worked in Utah but was later transferred to Texas while his family remained in Utah. He had “a difficult time” getting off for holidays. In 2004 an automobile accident injured his back, and Southwest approved all his requests for FMLA leave. But it was later found that Rydalch had used FMLA leave 35 times to excuse himself from work on days just before or after his previously scheduled time off, had “often” used FMLA leave on important dates and holidays and had a pattern of taking flights to and from Utah on the days he requested FMLA leave.
After an internal investigation and hearing, Rydalch was fired for abusing the company’s attendance policy. He then sued Southwest for: (1) violating the FMLA by terminating his employment in retaliation for his use of FMLA leave and interfering with his ability to take leave; and (2) violating the ADA by subjecting him to disparate treatment, failing to accommodate his disability and retaliating against him based on his disability.
Regarding the FMLA claims, the court found that Southwest offered sufficient evidence to justify the termination was legitimate and nondiscriminatory: (1) it selected an independent decision maker to review Rydalch’s use of FMLA leave; (2) that person reviewed the facts as set out in the hearing to conclude that Rydalch violated the attendance program; and (3) that decision was affirmed by Southwest’s director of employee relations.
“Southwest’s adverse action was not related to Mr. Rydalch’s exercise of FMLA rights,” the court noted. “Southwest’s decision to terminate Mr. Rydalch’s employment was not based on his proper exercise of FMLA leave; it was based on his misuse of FMLA leave.”
Regarding the ADA claims, the court held that: (1) Southwest’s decision to terminate Rydalch’s employment was based on its honest belief that he violated the attendance program, not on his disability; and (2) Southwest did in fact accommodate his disability by, among other things, “approving all the FMLA leave that Mr. Rydalch requested.”
“[T]he ADA does not give employees who are disabled the right to be absent from work under the guise of FMLA leave,” the court stated. “The ADA does not prohibit employers from disciplining its employees for violations of the company’s policies.”
For a copy of the opinion Rydalch v. Southwest Airlines, Case No. 1:09CV00178CW (N.D. Utah, Aug. 3, 2011) click on the link below.