Opinion ID: 6330219
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Hospital’s Medical Leave Policies

Text: The Hospital allows employees to seek medical leaves of absence to handle personal illnesses and disabilities through two channels. First, the Hospital offers up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave—either continuous or intermittent—under the FMLA (“FMLA leave”). To be eligible for FMLA leave, employees must have worked at least 1,250 hours in the past year. The Hospital’s FMLA leave policy tells employees how to apply for leave and provides that: When the leave is foreseeable, an employee must give 30 days advance notice. When the leave is not foreseeable, notice should be given as soon as possible. In the case of medical emergencies[,] the employee . . . should contact the department manager by telephone as soon as possible. (Hospital Leave of Absence Policy, R. 44, Page ID #423.) Second, under the Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”), employees may seek unpaid medical leave even if they are not eligible for FMLA leave (“non-FMLA leave”). The CBA allows up to one year of non-FMLA leave. To apply for non-FMLA leave, employees must submit a written request and medical documentation from their physician either two weeks before the start of the leave “or as soon as circumstances allow.” (CBA, R. 44, Page ID #382–83.) No. 21-3445 King v. Steward Trumbull Mem. Hosp. Page 4 The Hospital uses a third-party administrator called FMLASource to handle both FMLA and non-FMLA leave requests. If an employee only applies for FMLA leave but does not meet the 1,250 hours requirement, then FMLASource must consider whether the employee qualifies for non-FMLA leave. Therefore, when “an employee is not eligible for FMLA leave, FMLASource should determine whether the employee is entitled to . . . another leave offered pursuant to [the Hospital’s] policies and/or the applicable collective bargaining agreement.” (Fischer Decl., R 49-2, Page ID #1378.) “Employees are not required to submit multiple requests for leave upon denial of a request for FMLA leave.” (Id.) In accordance with the Hospital’s policy, leave requests and medical documentation go through FMLASource rather than the employee’s direct supervisors. King had experience dealing with FMLASource; she received both FMLA and non-FMLA leave on several occasions in 2015 and 2016.