Tuesday, June 24, 2008
- Brad Neese
Nathan Whatley, a leading employment law attorney in Oklahoma and
attorney with PremierSource's strategic alliance partner McAfee &
Taft, was interviewed by The Oklahoman
on a recent Federal Appeals Court decision that expanded an employer's
duty to designate an employee's absence as covered under the Family and
Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Whatley said the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower
court's judgment in favor of an employer who had fired an employee
after she had "a strong emotional and physical reaction when a stray
puppy wandered into her workspace.
"The employee engaged in
bizarre and threatening behavior, called in sick day after day due to
the stray dog, and failed to provide necessary medical certification to
justify a medical leave of absence. The court found that the employee’s
unusual behavior constituted “constructive notice” of the need for FMLA
leave in the same way that watching an employee break a leg would
constitute notice."
Whatley also discussed other new
developments regarding FMLA that employers should be aware of,
including key changes in some new proposed regulations. One of the
proposed regulations would allow male employees to take protected leave
when attending prenatal appointments with a spouse.
You can read the entire article here.