Posted on 03/19/2002 10:12:54 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Tuesday that companies cannot always be punished for not telling employees that their maternity or medical leave policies satisfy leave guaranteed by federal law.
The ruling is a partial victory for employers, who faced lawsuits for not telling workers upfront about how their policies meet the federal guarantee of 12 weeks of leave.
Justices struck down part of a Labor Department regulation that penalized employers but stopped short of saying companies never have to give workers notice about leave.
Dissenting Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said the notice "can facilitate leave planning, allowing employees to organize their health treatments or family obligations around the total amount of leave they will ultimately be provided."
"Employers will breathe a sigh of relief from their biggest fear, that someone who takes the 12 weeks will automatically get another 12 weeks just because the employee didn't get a piece of paper," said Allan Weitzman, an attorney in Boca Raton, Fla., and author on the subject.
He said because the court's decision was narrow, "the administrative nightmare of sending out these designation forms is not over."
Arkansas shoe factory worker Tracy Ragsdale had sued her employer, Wolverine Worldwide Inc., claiming she was wrongly denied 12 weeks of leave under the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act.
The company argued that it had already given Ragsdale, who had cancer, a more generous leave package than the law required.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that the Labor Department regulation with penalties was invalid because it goes beyond the scope of the Family and Medical Leave Act. The Supreme Court agreed.
Joining O'Connor in the dissent were Justices David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.
Ragsdale had worked at Wolverine less than a year when she was diagnosed with cancer in 1996. She was given an initial leave and several extensions. Wolverine fired Ragsdale when she used up the company's seven-month maximum but was still unable to work.
Boy, there's a suprise.
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