If You Snooze, You (May) Lose Under The FMLA And ADA, Says The Seventh Circuit

In the recent case of Guzman v. Brown County, No. 16-3599 (March 7, 2018), the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court's grant of summary judgment to an employer on claims brought under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The holding in the case is important because the Seventh Circuit confirmed a long-standing legal principle in an employer's favor and clarified that constructive notice (i.e., the employee does not provide actual notice, but the employer nevertheless should have known) of a serious health condition requiring FMLA leave is a narrow exception to the notice requirement under the FMLA. Specifically, the Guzman court held that employment decisions made before notice of a potential serious health condition are shielded from claims of discrimination, interference, or retaliation. The Guzman court also made clear that constructive notice of a serious health condition is limited to narrow situations involving "stark and abrupt change[s]" in an employee's behavior. In other words, ambiguous attendance issues by an employee most likely cannot serve as constructive notice of a serious health condition.

Background

The plaintiff, Caroline Guzman, was a 911 dispatcher for a county government. The county government provided dispatch services for nine police departments, 18 fire departments, and two EMS agencies. She had previously worked on the third shift but had transferred to the first shift for the relevant time period.

Guzman was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2006 and treated that condition with a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine. She then underwent gastric bypass surgery, lost weight, and eventually threw away her CPAP machine because she did not think she needed it anymore. It was unclear if her employer was aware of the sleep apnea diagnosis or CPAP machine treatment.

Guzman was then disciplined for being late to work in September 2011, June 2012, August 2012, and December 2012. On February 9, 2013, she was again late for work. After numerous phone calls to Guzman went unanswered, the dispatch center manager requested that a deputy sheriff check on her. The deputy sheriff made contact with Guzman, who then arrived at work. Guzman claimed that she had slept through her alarms. On February 25, 2013, at a meeting to address her tardiness on February 9, Guzman did not mention sleep apnea. She was given a three-day suspension and warned that she...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT