Opinion ID: 3044846
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: FMLA Authorization

Text: In May 2011, Green requested and, in June 2011, received approval for leave under the FMLA to take her father to doctor’s visits. MOBIS requires employees to first substitute accrued vacation days for FMLA leave. MOBIS also confirms doctor’s appointments for employees who submit copies of doctor’s excuses, rather than originals, when requesting FMLA leave. MOBIS records include doctor’s notes for days in June 2011 for which Green used accrued vacation days. In October 2011, after Green had exhausted accrued vacation days, MOBIS received a copy of a doctor’s note from Extended Arm Physicians referring Green's father for an appointment on October 17–18, 2011. MOBIS’s FMLA coordinator (the “FMLA coordinator”) noticed that the doctor’s referral note for that appointment appeared identical to a note Green submitted for FMLA leave for her father’s doctor’s visits on June 21–22, 2011. The FMLA coordinator called the doctor’s office and verified that Green was not at the doctor’s office with her father on October 17–18, 2011. It is undisputed that plaintiff Green did not attend work 5 Case: 14-11328 Date Filed: 05/26/2015 Page: 6 of 21 on October 17, 2011, but rather attended a recital at her son’s school. It is also undisputed that she worked a twelve-hour shift on October 18, 2011. At that time, the FMLA coordinator had no knowledge of Green's harassment complaint against Powers. The FMLA coordinator did not participate in the investigation of that complaint or Powers’s termination. On October 28, 2011, MOBIS managers met with Green to inform her that they were investigating what they believed were falsified doctor’s notes that Green had submitted for FMLA leave. On November 4, 2011, Green again met with MOBIS management. Green was informed that MOBIS had verified her doctor's notes and that they believed she had provided falsified documents in requesting FMLA leave. MOBIS then informed Green that it was terminating her for falsifying doctor’s excuses. It is undisputed that, had Green provided forged doctor’s notes to MOBIS, this would have been grounds for termination. Green claims that she submitted neither the June nor the October doctor’s notes to MOBIS and that she has no idea how MOBIS came to have doctor’s notes for her father in its possession. Green filed a second EEOC charge on November 28, 2011, alleging her termination was retaliation for her filing a June 21, 2011 charge of discrimination based on Powers’s conduct. 6 Case: 14-11328 Date Filed: 05/26/2015 Page: 7 of 21