By Kate McGovern Tornone, Editor
A manager cost her company $500,000 when she told an employee taking intermittent Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave to “get it together,” and asked the employee to take a continuous leave.
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A jury agreed with Amanda Perry, an office coordinator for Covenant Medical Center, Inc., that these actions, in conjunction with adverse actions taken by the employer after Perry returned from leave, violated the FMLA.
Perry had requested—and been approved for—intermittent FMLA leave to deal with symptoms related to psychiatric impairments.
After she took several days of leave, Perry’s supervisor said she had spoken with human resources and was concerned about the time Perry was taking off. She told Perry to “get it together” and take a continuous leave. Perry complied and took several weeks off of work in a row.