Ebersole v. Novo Nordisk, Inc., et al., No. 13-2160 (8th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed suit against her former employer, Novo, and former superivisor at Novo, alleging that Novo terminated her in violation of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), 29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq. The court concluded that plaintiff could not establish that defendants acted with discriminatory animus against plaintiff for taking FMLA leave. Applying the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework, the court concluded that plaintiff could not demonstrate pretext; plaintiff did not adduce enough evidence to rebut Novo's legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for her termination; and, therefore, plaintiff has not produced sufficient probative evidence that her termination was the result of unlawful FMLA retaliation. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to defendants.
Court Description: Civil case - Family and Medical Leave Act. As plaintiff failed to produce direct evidence of an illegal motive for her termination, the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework applied to her claims; assuming she made a prima facie case of illegal discrimination based on the exercise of her FMLA rights, plaintiff failed to show the legitimate ground defendant offered for her termination was a pretext for retaliation.
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