Thomas J. Dart, et al. v. Salvatore Ziccarelli

Under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, employers may be subject to civil liability if they interfere with their employees’ exercise of the rights created by that act. In its decision below, the Seventh Circuit held that a plaintiff bringing a claim for interference with his FMLA rights is not required to show an actual impairment or denial of those rights – in other words, a plaintiff whose employer provided him the maximum benefits granted by the FMLA may nevertheless claim that those benefits were somehow interfered with. In so doing, the Seventh Circuit further entrenched an existing conflict among the circuits, the overwhelming majority of which – the Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits – have recognized that interference plaintiffs must prove that they were denied a right granted by the FMLA. Only a small minority of circuits – the D.C., First, Fourth, and now Seventh Circuits – have held that such plaintiffs need not prove a denial of rights. The question presented is: whether a plaintiff bringing a claim for FMLA interference must prove that he was denied any rights granted by the FMLA.