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Harrell v. Unites States Postal Service 03-42049
Court of Appeals - Seventh Judicial District
In this case, the plaintiff was employed by the United States Postal Service and sought a medical leave under the Family Medical Leave Act. He sought medical attention with his family physician after feeling ill and leaving work early. His leave was estimated at four weeks and was for fatigue, stress, sleep disturbance and difficulty concentrating. He was asked to visit the United States Postal Service contract physician for an examination in response to an off work slip from his doctor. The USPS requested more information before they would authorize his leave under FMLA. In addition, upon his return to work his family physician simply advised the postal service that he could return to work without restrictions without any further explanation. USPS again asked for additional information regarding his treatment and any medications he took or was currently taking before they would return him to work. They stated their reasons for behaving as mentioned was pursuant to a collective bargain agreement formed as a national agreement for all postal employees. The court, in considering the plaintiff's claim, held that the Postal Service could not rely upon the collective bargain agreement when it creates a greater burden than that of the FMLA. The FMLA states that an employee may return to work after his physician releases him to work. This release may simply be a statement from his physician stating he is able to return to work. Requiring additional information or tests for fitness must either be justified by the work and uniformly applied for employment and may not create a greater burden than that expressed by the FMLA. Therefore, if a collective bargain agreement exists which may supercede the provisions of the FMLA under the FMLA's own provisions, it cannot create a greater burden on the employee than that expressly provided by the FMLA itself. Collective bargain agreements may only supercede the FMLA when they provide greater benefits as relied upon by the employees. Thus, an employee may offensively use a collective bargain agreement to supercede the FMLA if it provides greater benefit but the employer may not offensively use the collective bargain agreement when it places greater burden on the employee than the provisions of the FMLA. |
