A Florida sheriff’s office employee was out sick for 2 days. When she returned on a Monday, she told her boss that she had a serious infection and would need to be out for regular treatments. That Friday, she submitted paperwork requesting intermittent leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The following Monday, she was fired. The employer claimed she’d been terminated for poor performance.

What happened. “Spear” had worked for the Broward County Sheriff’s Office for more than the requisite 12 months, and there was no question in the case that she was eligible for leave under FMLA. Nor did the employer ever say that anything was lacking in her request for leave, such as missing medical certification or unclear estimates about the amount of time she expected to be out. The employer instead offered two arguments: First, it said, Spear had been fired for poor performance; the termination had nothing to do with her FMLA request. Second, she had filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), so she was precluded from suing the employer in court.

Spear claimed retaliation for her request, rather than the other possible charge, that of employer interference with her FMLA rights. In a federal district court, a jury was gathered to hear the case. It heard what was later reported to be conflicting evidence about her performance. We can guess that her periodic evaluations were all “satisfactory” or better, but the employer testified that she really wasn’t a good employee at all. So the jury awarded Spear back pay with interest, liquidated damages, 5 years of front pay, and attorneys’ fees. The sheriff’s office appealed the verdict to the 11th Circuit, which covers Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.

What the court said. Appellate judges first studied the relevant portion of law governing DOL complaints. They found that the section prohibits lawsuits in only two instances, both where the Secretary of Labor has lodged a complaint. That is, when DOL itself intends to sue on a plaintiff’s behalf, he or she cannot also sue. (A complaint can be made to DOL but need not be made.)

The defendant also argued that Spear needed to prove that she’d been fired for requesting leave. “No,” said judges, “you need to prove that’s not the reason you fired her.” And, they said, the employer had failed to prove that, so Spear’s jury verdict was upheld. Spakes v. Broward County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, No. 09-15086 (1/31/11).

Point to remember: We hope no BLR subscriber would ever fire someone in the way this sheriff’s office did. It’s going to pay big bucks—at taxpayers’ expense.