Olson v. United States, No. 19-35389 (9th Cir. 2020)
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The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment in favor of the BPA, in an action brought by plaintiff, alleging that BPA violated the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) by willfully interfering with her rights under the Act. The district court found that plaintiff did not prove that BPA willfully interfered with her FMLA rights and, therefore, that her claims were barred by the relevant statute of limitations.
The panel held that the district court did not clearly err in determining that, even if plaintiff had proven a violation of her FMLA rights, BPA's interference was not willful. In this case, the district court applied the McLaughlin standard for willfulness, and properly concluded that there is little evidence in the record that BPA either knew or showed reckless disregard for the matter of whether its conduct was prohibited by the statute. The district court did not clearly err in finding that these facts did not constitute willfulness. Therefore, plaintiff's claim is barred by the two-year statute of limitations in 29 U.S.C. 2617(c)(1), rather than the three-year statute of limitations under section 2617(c)(2).
Court Description: Family and Medical Leave Act. The panel affirmed the district court’s judgment in favor of the Bonneville Power Administration (“BPA”) in an action alleging claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”). Plaintiff contracted to work with the BPA. Plaintiff alleged that BPA willfully interfered with her rights under the FMLA by failing to provide her notice of those rights. The panel held that the district court did not clearly err in determining that BPA’s alleged interference with plaintiff’s FMLA rights was not willful. Agreeing with other circuits that have addressed the issue, the panel held that the standard for willfulness adopted by the Supreme Court in McLaughlin v. Richard Shoe Co., 486 U.S. 128 (1988), for Fair Labor Standards Act claims also applied to FMLA ** The Honorable Roger T. Benitez, United States District Judge for the Southern District of California, sitting by designation. OLSON V. UNITED STATES 3 claims. The panel further held that the three-year statute of limitations in 29 U.S.C. § 2617(c)(2) applied to a “willful violation.” The panel held that the district court did not err in finding that the facts in this case did not constitute willfulness by the BPA. The panel concluded that plaintiff’s claim was barred by the two-year statute of limitations in 29 U.S.C. § 2617(c)(1).
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