Should an employee be granted FMLA leave to accompany her ill husband on an overseas trip to meet with a faith healer? Read the dramatized version of this real-life case and see if you can determine the outcome.

The scenario

HR manager Larry Richards had just returned from lunch when Maria Taggert stomped into his office.

“You denied my FMLA leave request?” said Maria, fuming.

Come right on in, thought Larry. He motioned to a chair. “Maria, please sit down.”

“I need to take my husband to the Philippines. We’ve got an audience with a faith healer,” pleaded Maria. “My husband’s very ill.”

“I’m sorry your husband isn’t doing well, Maria, but we can’t approve your FMLA request,” said Larry.

“But my husband can’t make it to the Philippines without me,” said Maria.

“I carry his bags, I push his wheelchair, and give him his medication,” she continued. “And my lawyer told me that traveling with him and providing psychological support like that is covered by the FMLA.”

“Yes, psychological support is covered by the FMLA. But I’m pretty sure a faith healer doesn’t count as a medical practitioner,” said Larry.

“I have to go on this trip, and you have to let me go,” said Maria.

Maria went on unapproved leave and Larry’s company fired her. Maria turned around and sued the company for violating her FMLA rights.

Did the company win?

The decision

Yes, the company won.

The judge acknowledged that Maria’s husband had serious health issues and that Maria was generally  permitted, as his spouse, to take FMLA leave to care for him.

But the couple’s trip to the Philippines was not covered under FMLA, the judge ruled.

Why not? Because the trip itself was for non-medical reasons. Maria’s husband never received medical attention or underwent any treatment by a medical professional in the Philippines.

Therefore, it didn’t matter that Maria provided psychological support for her husband — the trip itself wasn’t covered by the FMLA in the first place.

The FMLA permits employees to take leave if they’re providing psychological support for a family member, such as staying at a hospital where a family member is being treated.

However, courts have ruled that the FMLA doesn’t apply if the family member being cared for isn’t receiving actual medical treatment. And generally speaking, non-mainstream treatments – like consultations with faith healers – don’t qualify.

Cite: Tayag v. Lahey Clinic Hospital, Inc.

Tags: court decisions, faith healers, FMLA, psychological support, Tayag v. Lahey Clinic Hospital