By Shelley I. Ericsson, JD
The purpose of the FMLA is to allow an employee to manage a serious health condition (his own, a spouse’s, or a family member’s) without fear of losing his job. An employer cannot interfere with an employee’s FMLA rights or take action that appears to be penalizing the employee for exercising those rights.
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A federal judge in Missouri was recently faced with a case in which an employer denied an employee’s FMLA leave request because his certification form listed his incapacity as lasting for only three days. The employer argued that the certification didn’t meet the FMLA’s qualifications for leave due to incapacity and treatment, which generally requires a period of incapacity lasting “longer than three full days.”