Opinion ID: 777989
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Exhaustion of FMLA Leave Prior to Termination

Text: 54 NAP argues that the district court erred by equitably estopping NAP from asserting an affirmative defense that Duty had exhausted the twelve weeks of FMLA leave to which he was entitled on July 10, 1997, 4 thereby barring him from asserting any claims under the FMLA. See 29 U.S.C. § 2612(a)(1) (entitling an FMLA disability claimant to twelve work weeks of leave). In denying this defense, the district court reasoned that, because Duty could have relied to his detriment on NAP's September 15, 1997 letter informing him that his entire 34-week sick leave qualified under the FMLA, NAP was estopped from claiming that Duty's leave was confined to the twelve weeks dictated by the FMLA. NAP contends that it should not be penalized for extending to Duty more benefits than the FMLA requires. See Ragsdale v. Wolverine World wide, Inc., 218 F.3d 933, 937 (8th Cir.2000), aff'd, ___ U.S. ___, 122 S.Ct. 1155, 152 L.Ed.2d 167 (2002) (filed Mar. 19, 2002). 55 We review the district court's preclusion of NAP's proposed affirmative defense based on equitable estoppel principles for an abuse of discretion. See Movie Sys., Inc. v. Heller, 710 F.2d 492, 495 (8th Cir.1983) (treating equitable estoppel as an affirmative defense); accord Spaulding v. United Transp. Union, 279 F.3d 901, 911 (10th Cir.2002) (reviewing equitable estoppel decisions for abuse of discretion); Ecolab, Inc. v. Envirochem, Inc., 264 F.3d 1358, 1364 (Fed.Cir.2001) (same); Grigson v. Creative Artists Agency, L.L.C., 210 F.3d 524, 527 (5th Cir.2000) (same); Santa Maria v. Pacific Bell, 202 F.3d 1170, 1175 (9th Cir.2000) (same); McNemar v. Disney Store, Inc., 91 F.3d 610, 613 (3d Cir.1996) (same). The principle of [equitable] estoppel declares that a party who makes a representation that misleads another person, who then reasonably relies on that representation to his detriment, may not deny the representation. Farley v. Benefit Trust Life Ins. Co., 979 F.2d 653, 659 (8th Cir.1992); see also Heckler v. Community Health Services of Crawford County, Inc., 467 U.S. 51, 59, 104 S.Ct. 2218, 81 L.Ed.2d 42 (1984) (referring to the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 894(1) to define equitable estoppel as warranted in situations where one person has misrepresented facts and another person reasonably relies on the misrepresentation to his or her detriment). 56 In the present case, the district court determined that (1) NAP sent Duty the September 15, 1997 letter; (2) the letter explicitly guaranteed Duty FMLA leave until December 10, 1997; and (3) Duty either did or reasonably could have relied on the specified leave time to his detriment. Because Duty called White on December 11, 1997, the day immediately following the end of his FMLA leave as designated in the September 15, 1997 letter, we may infer that Duty did rely on the leave time period defined in that letter. Furthermore, because Duty's FMLA leave intermingled with his short-term disability leave, it was not unreasonable for him to rely on the amount of leave time designated by NAP. As a result, we find no abuse of discretion in the district court's determination that NAP should be equitably estopped from contesting Duty's eligibility to assert a claim under the FMLA. See Kosakow v. New Rochelle Radiology Assocs., 274 F.3d 706, 724-25 (2d Cir.2001) (affirming the district court's decision to estop an employer from asserting an affirmative defense challenging an employee's FMLA eligibility when the employer's unintentional misleading behavior caused the employee to justifiably and detrimentally rely on the FMLA leave); see also Woodford v. Community Action of Greene County, Inc., 268 F.3d 51, 57 (2d Cir.2001) (authorizing equitable estoppel where an employer initially provided notice of eligibility for leave and later seeks to challenge it); Dormeyer v. Comerica Bank-Illinois, 223 F.3d 579, 582 (7th Cir.2000) (recognizing a district court's ability to equitably estop employers from asserting an affirmative defense contesting an employee's entitlement to FMLA leave in situations where the employer's words or conduct has misled the employee into relying on the leave).