The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit seeking back wages and liquidated damages on behalf of a former Staples Contract and Commercial Inc. employee for alleged violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act. DOL filed suit after a Wage and Hour Division investigation found that the employer failed to notify an employee of his FMLA rights despite being aware the employee needed to take full and partial days of leave to care for his spouse. DOL also is requesting a permanent injunction against the company to prevent future FMLA violations.
“For more than 20 years, the FMLA has served as the cornerstone of the department’s effort to promote work-family balance. No worker in this country should have to lose his or her job when faced with a serious health condition or the need to care for an ill family member,” said Michelle Garvey, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s Columbia District Office. “This lawsuit demonstrates the department’s commitment to ensuring workers receive all the protections to which they are entitled under the FMLA, and to preventing future violations of the law — violations that would place hard-working families and law-abiding employers at a significant disadvantage.”
Per the employer’s policy and practice, an employee’s job performance expectations may be modified when FMLA leave is requested and any pre-existing performance improvement plan would be placed on hold while the employee is on FMLA leave. However, DOL alleges that, as a result of the employer failing to provide notice to the employee of his FMLA rights and responsibilities:
- the employee was not afforded the opportunity to take FMLA leave to care for his spouse;
- his job performance expectations were not modified; and
- he was subsequently terminated.
According to a DOL press release, the employee was not placed on a PIP until after informing the employer of his wife’s serious illness.
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