Scruggs v. Carrier Corp., No. 11-3420 (7th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseScruggs worked for Carrier since 1986. In 2004, Scruggs’s mother was moved to a nursing home. He sought intermittent leave to assist in her care and submitted Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. 2601, certification paperwork five times. Four certifications permitted leave for nursing home visits and transportation to doctor’s appointments. The fifth certification, in effect at his termination, permitted Scruggs to take his mother to doctor’s appointments once every six months and did not mention nursing home visits. In 2006, Carrier implemented a new plan to combat suspected FMLA abuse. Carrier hired McGough to watch about 35 employees who were suspected of misusing leave or had unexcused absences. McGough followed Scruggs, but found no evidence of misusing FMLA leave on the first two occasions. After Scruggs reported that he was taking FMLA leave for an entire day, an investigator recorded that Scruggs did not leave home. Following his suspension, Scruggs provided documentation from his mother’s doctor and the nursing home that he was assisting his mother on the date at issue. After further investigation, Carrier concluded that Scruggs had misused FMLA leave and terminated his employment. The district court rejected his FMLA suit. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, stating that Carrier had an “honest suspicion.”
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