Opinion ID: 78803
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: kimberly alonso’s claims

Text: In February 2007, Kimberly requested FMLA leave due to pregnancy. Her request was approved, and she began her leave in April. She returned to work on November 1, 2007. On December 14, 2007, she requested intermittent FMLA leave to care for her child. This request was also approved. Kimberly Alonso joined her husband, Alan Alonso, in filing a lawsuit against HVA. Though Kimberly Alonso’s employment had not been terminated, and she had not utilized the GRB procedure, she nonetheless alleged that HVA: (1) violated Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (“ELCRA”), Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 37.2101 et seq., by subjecting her to a hostile work 4 The district court was unable to discern under what statute Alan Alonso was claiming protection and therefore did not address this claim, which appeared as Count II of his complaint. 7 No. 09-1812 Alonso v. Huron Valley Ambulance, Inc. environment and disparate treatment based on her sex; (2) violated ELCRA and Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a), by retaliating against her for filing an EEOC complaint; (3) violated the FMLA by demoting her, threatening to replace her, not reinstating her to her field training officer position, and retaliating against her for taking FMLA leave; and (4) caused her to suffer emotional distress and humiliation by obtaining information about her medical condition and hospital admission and disclosing that information to her co-workers in violation of Michigan tort law. The district court dismissed all of Alan Alonso’s claims with prejudice, upholding the GRB process as comporting with procedural fairness requirements, holding that he knowingly and intelligently waived his right to a judicial forum for all of his claims, and holding that any claims that he had not raised before the GRB were time-barred by the six-month statute of limitations. Additionally, the district court dismissed all of Kimberly Alonso’s claims without prejudice, holding that she had not exhausted her administrative remedies by participating in the GRB process.