Coutard v. Municipal Credit Union

What the court decided

An employee asked for FMLA leave to care for his 82-year-old grandfather, who had raised him from before age four after his father died. The credit union told him the FMLA does not apply to grandparents and fired him for job abandonment when he stayed home. The FMLA defines "parent" to include someone who stood in loco parentis when the employee was a child. The court held that an employee's notice is sufficient if it "indicates reasonably that the FMLA may apply," and that the employer must then ask for any additional information it needs; the employee does not have to supply every detail up front. The employer also could not rely on the missing medical certification, because it never asked for one under the FMLA, or on a reinstatement offer made in settlement.

Who won

The employee won this round. The Second Circuit vacated summary judgment for the employer and sent the case back, but denied the employee summary judgment because the grandfather's role and health were still disputed.

Why it matters for workers with a medical condition

Tell your employer why you need the time. If it may be FMLA leave, it is the employer's job to ask what else it needs, not to say no.

Key passage: 848 F.3d 102 at 108-14.

We do not host a copy of this decision. The full text is available free from United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (official slip opinion).

This page summarizes the decision in plain language.