Originally published May 5, 2010
Can an employer take disciplinary action against an employee as
a result of performance issues uncovered while the employee was on
FMLA leave? Yes, according to a federal appellate
court. The appellate court held that a drug company did not
violate the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) when it demoted a
top-level executive upon return from maternity leave for
performance deficiencies unrelated to her FMLA leave. Schaaf v.
SmithKline Beecham Corp. d/b/a GlaxoSmithKline, No. 09-10806
(11th Cir. Apr. 6, 2010).
Schaaf served as a regional vice president for GlaxoSmithKline
(GSK) after several earlier promotions. After several years
in this position, Schaaf's subordinates complained about her
"antagonistic and inflexible" management style, poor
communication skills, "tendency to play favorites,"
failure to provide written feedback and a practice of sharing
confidential performance evaluation information with other
employees. After
