The Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) is a federal law that allows eligible employees to take twelve protected workweeks of leave in a 12-month period to care for their spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition. To be eligible for FMLA you must satisfy three conditions. First, you must work for a “qualified employer,” an employer who employs at least 50 or more employees in a 75-mile radius. Second, you must have worked for the employer for at least 1 year. Finally, you must have worked at least 1,250 hours during the previous year. When you return from FMLA leave your employer must return you to the same job or one that is nearly identical. If you do not know if you qualify for FMLA, if your employer is preventing you from taking FMLA leave, or if your employer is retaliating against you for taking FMLA leave, you should contact an attorney immediately. As with any claim, there is a statute of limitations for bringing a FMLA interference or FMLA retaliation claim.
The Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”) also protects you from discrimination because of your relationship with an individual with a disability. This is known as associational discrimination. The United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, in Stansberry v. Air Wisconsin Airlines Corp., 651 F.3d 482, 487 (6th Cir.2011) explained the three theories of association discrimination. The expense theory: “where an employee suffers an adverse employment action because of his or her association with a disabled individual covered under the employer’s health plan, which is costly to the employer.” The disability by association theory: where “the employer fears that the employee may contract the disability of the person he or she is associated with (for example the employee’s partner is infected with HIV and the employer fears the employee may become infected), or the employee is genetically predisposed to develop a disability that his or her relatives have.” And the distraction theory: “based on the employee’s being somewhat inattentive at work because of the disability of someone with whom he or she is associated.” Because your time to file suit may be limited, if you believe you were discriminated against because of your association with a disabled individual, you should contact an experienced employment discrimination attorney sooner rather than later.