FMLA Protects Workers Even Before They Are Eligible For FMLA Leave

In a case of first impression, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently held that the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA" or the "Act") protected a pregnant worker who was fired after she requested leave, despite the fact that she was not eligible for FMLA leave when she made the request, because she would have been eligible at the time the leave was to have been taken.  The case, Pereda v. Brookdale Senior Living Facilities, Inc., is an important case for employers to heed.

By way of background, the FMLA provides certain employees with up to twelve weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year.  To qualify for this category of FMLA leave, an individual must have worked for a covered employer for at least 1,250 hours in the twelve months preceding the leave, and must experience a triggering event, such as the birth of a child.  An employee may bring two types of claims under the FMLA: interference claims, in which an employee asserts that