Record contained sufficient evidence to support jury’s $12,000 verdict in favor of plaintiff-employee in action alleging that defendant-employer interfered with plaintiff’s FMLA rights by failing to provide her with notice or information about her right to take job-protected leave, after plaintiff had informed her supervisor that she was suffering from severe psychological problems that ultimately led to her resignation. Record showed that plaintiff had sufficiently serious health condition, where shortly after she left her job with defendant, she was hospitalized with mental problems that included anxiety and/or depression, and that her condition prevented her from performing her job at defendant. Also, plaintiff’s abnormal behavior in workplace provided defendant with sufficient notice to alert it to plaintiff’s serious health condition, as well as her need for FMLA leave, where plaintiff told her supervisor on several occasions about her deteriorating mental health, and where plaintiff asked for accommodation of working 10-month position instead of her 12-month position. Fact that plaintiff did not expressly mention FMLA when making said request did not require different result.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Family and Medical Leave Act