Gienapp v. Harbor Crest

Dist. Ct. erred in granting defendant-employer’s motion for summary judgment in FMLA action alleging that defendant violated plaintiff’s rights under FMLA by assigning her job to third-party when plaintiff attempted to come back to her job after taking care of medical needs of her adult child. Defendant could not argue that plaintiff failed to keep it adequately informed about nature of said leave, even though she failed to indicate on FMLA form as to when she anticipated her return to the workforce, since plaintiff regularly contacted defendant throughout her leave, and defendant could have clarified plaintiff’s return-to-work date during these contacts. Moreover, plaintiff’s care of her adult child was covered under FMLA, and Ct. rejected defendant’s claim that any time spent by plaintiff taking care of adult child’s children disqualified plaintiff from taking any FMLA leave.