By Gregory J. Wartman, JD
A Pennsylvania federal court recently ruled that an employee was ineligible for relief under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) because of the size of his employer and that he did not present sufficient evidence that his employer should be equitably estopped (prevented) from avoiding liability under the Act.
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Although equitable estoppel arguments are available to employees who are ineligible under the FMLA, the court concluded that the employee did not read—and therefore did not rely on—the employer’s written misrepresentation about its compliance with the FMLA.
While the employer in this case was not found liable under the FMLA, there are several important takeaways from the court’s ruling.