The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week on whether the Family and Medical Leave Act should provide protection to employees of state governments. The court heard argument on the employee rights issue on the same day that the court handed down its ruling that says ministers cannot sue their churches under employment discrimination laws.

The FMLA issue involved a claim brought against a state employer that had fired a worker for trying to take 10 days of FMLA leave. The man's doctor had ordered the worker to take two-weeks of bed rest to deal with hypertension and diabetes-related medical issues. When the employee sought FMLA leave to accomplish the bed rest, he was fired.

He filed suit against the state employer under the FMLA seeking damages. The trial court threw the case out, despite the employer's admission that the termination violated the FMLA. The federal judge ruled, and an appellate court agreed, that state employees cannot sue state employers for money damages.

In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state workers could sue under the FMLA for money damages if they are denied FMLA leave requested to take care of an ill family member. The current issue before the high court is whether an employee can sue for damages after being denied FMLA leave for a personal medical issue.

Twenty seven states have weighed in on the current case. The states say that the only remedy workers should have for FMLA violations related to a worker's personal medical issue is to sue to get his or her job back. The states argue that workers should not be able to sue state governments for monetary damages under the FMLA.

Attorneys for the fired worker argued to the court that if money damages are not available, there is no incentive for state employers to follow the law. That is, the threat of money damages serves as the teeth in the law, which gives workers protection.

The Family and Medical Leave Act was created in 1993 to give workers the right to take up to 12 weeks of leave to care for a new baby or an ill family member. The law also allows workers to take FMLA leave to deal with serious medical issue of their own, much like the worker in the current Supreme Court case.

The states acknowledge that the FMLA applies to state workers, but the issue before the high court is what remedy should be available for aggrieved state employees. The outcome of the court's decision, expected later this year, is an important employee rights issue for roughly 5 million workers across the country, including employees in Ohio, who work for state agencies.

Source: Associated Press, "Supreme Court wrestles with medical leave case," Jessica Gresko, Jan. 11, 2012