Court says man’s retaliation claim can proceed to trial

On behalf of elizabethtatelaw Attorney at Law posted in Family and Medical Leave Act on Saturday , October 7, 2017

Arizona residents may be interested to learn about a man who filed an age discrimination and retaliation claim against his former employer. The former nursing home maintenance director claimed that his termination by a Pennsylvania nursing home violated his rights under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act.

After reviewing evidence that the plaintiff had a history of poor performance evaluations, the court dismissed the man’s age discrimination claim. However, the man’s FMLA retaliation claim was allowed to proceed to trial. The court found that the close timing between the man’s leave request and his firing was suggestive of retaliation.

According to court records, the former nursing home employee was placed on the first of three performance improvement plans in January 2012. He was fired on June 20, 2012, two days after he provided the human resources department with an FMLA certification of health care provider form. At court hearings, the plaintiff did not deny that he had conducted an investigation of his supervisor’s work attendance. After he was placed on his first performance improvement plan, the man began monitoring camera footage and his supervisor’s time sheets.

Even if an employee cannot dispute a record of poor work performance ratings, the employee may still bring a Family and Medical Leave Act retaliation retaliation claim against the employer. A court may consider an employee’s retaliation claim if a termination occurred shortly after the employee asked for medical or family leave. People may also have a case against their employer if their employer interfered with their decision to take leave.