The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has green-lighted an employee’s FLMA claims against a company president, human resources manager, director, and the plant manager. In Narodetsky v. Cardone Industries, Inc., the company terminated a 12-year employee shortly after he requested FMLA leave for surgery to repair a leg injury. The day after learning that the employee needed leave, the company decided to conduct a forensic computer search of his computer and found a pornographic e-mail that he had allegedly forwarded to another employee more than a year earlier. After the company terminated the employee, he sued not only Cardone Industries but also the company president and several individual managers, alleging that they had violated the FMLA. The FMLA defines “employer” as “any person who acts, directly or indirectly, in the interest of an employer,” and FMLA regulations explain that individuals such as corporate officers can be found individually liable for any violations of the act. Thus, the Court concluded that the individual defendants were properly named in the lawsuit because each one was alleged to have played a role in the decision to terminate the plaintiff.
