Won't return phone calls? Not entitled to FMLA leave

Not responding to phone messages isn’t just a breach of etiquette – it can also scuttle an employee’s FMLA claim.
That’s the lesson in a recent federal court case in Illinois, where a judge ruled in favor of an employer who fired an employee after he failed to respond to his manager’s phone calls asking for clarification of his need for FMLA leave.
Here’s how the case went down:
Sales representative Robert Righi was attending a training seminar when he learned his mother was having a medical emergency. He left the seminar to rush to her side.
The next day, he e-mailed his supervisor, saying he needed “the next couple days off” to arrange for his mother’s care. He added that he had vacation time coming, or he “could apply for the family care act, which I do not want to do at this time.”
After receiving Righi’s e-mail, the supervisor tried to contact Righi by phone to clarify the employee’s FMLA status.  Over five business days, the manager called Righi’s cellphone 13 times.
On two other occasions, the supervisor spoke with Righi’s roommate.
Righi didn’t call back for nine days. When he finally contacted his supervisor, Righi was asked to come in for a meeting, where he was fired.
Righi sued, claiming the employer interfered with his rights under FMLA.
The judge wasn’t buying it. It’s on the employee to respond to questions that are designed to determine if FMLA leave is warranted. If no response is forthcoming, the employer’s free to deny the leave request.
“Of course, an employer cannot deny FMLA leave when an employee has a legal entitlement to it,” the judge wrote. “But Righi’s failure to follow the applicable regulatory and workplace requirements for notifying his employer of the expected duration of his leave forecloses his FMLA interference claim.”
Bad phone calls, good phone calls
In a recent story, we recounted how numerous phone calls to an employee asking when she would return from FMLA leave were found to be in violation of the law.
But this case is the flip side of that story — and it carries an important message for employers. You can, indeed, ask reasonable questions about the need, timing and duration of FMLA leave — and it’s up to the employee to furnish you with that information in a timely manner.
The case is Righi v. SMC Corp. of America. To see the full decision, go here.