Opinion ID: 777989
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Duty's FMLA Obligations

Text: 59 NAP claims that no jury reasonably could have concluded that Duty was entitled to job restoration pursuant to the FMLA because (1) Duty did not return to work on December 11, 1997, and (2) Duty did not present a physician's release-to-work certificate to comply with NAP's return to work policy. See 29 U.S.C. § 2614(b)(1)(C) (requiring employees to return to work for FMLA coverage), (a)(4) (enabling employers to condition job restoration on a uniform policy requiring employees to present certification from a health care provider to return to work). 60 Duty submitted sufficient evidence for a jury reasonably to infer that he did qualify for job restoration under the FMLA because he testified that (1) he did attempt to return to work on December 11, 1997, by telephoning White to find out what she expected of him in order to return to work, and (2) he did comply with the requirement in the NAP employee handbook of providing a medical release to return to work by submitting the November 20, 1997 statement from Dr. Keyashian releasing him to return to work with a heavy lifting restriction. As a result, we conclude that the district court did not err in determining that sufficient evidence existed to support the jury's finding that Duty fulfilled his obligations under the FMLA. 61