In an unpublished decision dated August 15, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals reversed the award of summary judgment to an employer in an FMLA case. The decision in Krenzke v. Alexandria Motors Cars is here. The case provides a good overview of the issue of what constitutes adequate notice by the employee of a need for FMLA leave and also on what can satisfy the “continuing treatment” test for a “serious health condition.”
For those interested in the specialized area of Sarbanes-Oxley (”SOX”) whistleblower claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued an opinion dated August 5, 2008, affirming the finding of the Administrative Review Board that the petitioner’s termination as CFO of the respondent bank did not violate the whistleblower protection provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The court’s opinion can be found here. The VLW Blog has a post on the case here. Workplace Prof Blog has a brief post here.
In EEOC v. Sunbelt Rentals, Inc., the Fourth Circuit overturned an award of summary judgment in a Title VII religious harassment suit and sent the case back to the district court for trial. The case involved allegations that the plaintiff was subjected to repeated instances of harassment because he was a Muslim. Judge Wilkinson wrote, in reversing the district court’s summary judgment, that “[i]n the wake of September 11th, some Muslim Americans, completely innocent of any wrongdoing, became targets of gross misapprehensions and overbroad assumptions about their religious beliefs but the event that shook the foundations of our buildings did not shake the premise of our founding — that here in America there is no heretical faith.”
In Livingston v. Wyeth, Inc., No. 06-1939 (4th Cir. 2008), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a whistleblower claim under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, 18 USC 1514A because it concluded that no objectively reasonable basis existed for the plaintiff to have believed that the defendant was violating the securities laws. Judge Michael wrote a lengthy dissenting opinion.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has held, in an unpublished opinion issued today, that a decision by a Virginia administrative law judge had preclusive effect, barring a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit in federal court. A copy of the decision is here. Davani v. Clement, No. 06-1781 (4th Cir. Feb. 6, 2008).
In two published opinions issued today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed verdicts for employees in separate cases brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
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