The Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) prohibits an employer from “interfer[ing] with, restrain[ing], or deny[ing] the exercise of or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under” the act. Relying on that prohibition, a federal district court in New York recently denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by female employees. In Stoler et al v. Institute For Integrative Nutrition et al., a group of female employees filed suit against the defendants for interfering with their rights under the FMLA. The lawsuit alleged the defendants took female employees’ potential to have children into account when making employment decisions. The lawsuit also alleged that the Institute For Integrative Nutrition’s founder made comments about how having a child might impact their employment. For instance, the director once told an employee, “women’s priorities shift when they become mothers” and told her to take that into consideration when planning her maternity leave and return to work. On another occasion, the director told the same employee that her position might not be the same when she returned from maternity leave. Based on those and numerous other similar comments, the court held that it was “plausible that such comments were designed to coerce [the employee] to leave her employment or to discourage [the employee] from using her leave.” If you think that your employer has tried to discourage you from taking FMLA leave your rights may have been violated. The attorneys at Lebau & Neuworth are experienced in FMLA matters and we may be able to assist you. For more information go to: http://lebauneuworth.com.
