Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) retaliation litigation serves an essential purpose by providing recourse to workers who were unfairly subjected to adverse employment actions for engaging in protected activities, such as requesting or taking FMLA leave. Whether you are an employee who has encountered this type of mistreatment or you are an employer who has taken an adverse action against an employee for a perfectly valid and legitimate reason, it is crucial to understand how to proceed properly in an FMLA retaliation action. That includes retaining an experienced Atlanta FMLA retaliation lawyer who can help you navigate the procedural details and legal nuances of this area of the law.
One of the most essential parts of any FMLA retaliation case is causation—the assessment of whether an employee’s protected FMLA activities caused their employer to punish them. Proving or disproving causation can be vital to the success of your case, and the standard for causation can vary based on where you litigate, as a recent retaliation case shows.
D. D.-S., the employee, worked for a local government in Louisiana from 2008 to 2020. In November 2019, she took a week of sick leave. Immediately after that, she requested FMLA leave to care for her ailing husband. The employee’s 12 weeks of FMLA leave expired in late February, and the employer declined to offer an extension.
After the government fired the employee in June 2020, she filed an FMLA retaliation claim. The trial court granted summary judgment to the employer, ending the claim before it reached trial.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, in upholding what the trial court decided, pointed out that FMLA retaliation cases proceed similarly to Title VII retaliation cases. In other words, the employee must establish a “prima facie case” of retaliation. If they do so, the employer must establish a legitimate reason for the adverse action it took. Once the employer clears that hurdle, the employee must demonstrate that the employer’s stated reason was merely a pretext for the actual motive of retaliation.
An employee can satisfy the prima facie requirement by sufficiently alleging that they were protected under the FMLA and suffered an adverse action that “was made because of the plaintiff’s request for leave.” This was what D. D.-S. purported to assert in her case.
5th Circuit Versus 11th Circuit Caselaw
The appeals court noted that the correct standard for causation in FMLA cases was not clear in that Circuit, as some rulings had imposed the less-rigorous “mixed-motive framework,” while others demanded the more rigorous standard of “but-for” causation.
The appeals court agreed with the trial judge in D. D.-S.’s case in concluding that, even if the employee had cleared the causation hurdle for making out a prima facie case, she nevertheless failed to show that the employer’s stated reason for ending her employment (failure to show up for work) was a pretext for FMLA retaliation.
For workers pursuing (and employers defending) FMLA retaliation cases here in Georgia, the causation standard in the 11th Circuit is much clearer than it is in the 5th Circuit. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2023 that workers who seek to establish claims of FMLA retaliation must, in showing that their protected status under the FMLA caused an adverse action, satisfy the but-for standard of causation. In a case proceeding under that framework, the employee can only succeed if they demonstrate that the adverse action would not have occurred but for their protected status.
FMLA retaliation is often an intricate and complicated matter. If you are facing an FMLA retaliation case, skilled legal representation is vital. The Atlanta FMLA retaliation attorneys at Parks, Chesin & Walbert are here to help. Contact us through this website or at 404-873-8048 to schedule a consultation today and find out how to put us to work for you.