Plaintiff, an elementary school teacher, demanded to be transferred to another school within the district because of problems she was having with the principal of her school. Her repeated demands for a transfer were denied. She asserted that she would not teach the next school year if her transfer requests were not granted. Henry was AWOL the first several days of class during the new school year. Instead of teaching, she went to the Central Office and demanded to be transferred. On her last visit she provided a medical note indicating that she need three weeks of leave. The Board notified Henry that it intended on terminating her for AWOL and insubordination. It also granted her request for medical leave. Henry sued alleging that the Board had retaliated against her in violation of the FMLA by denying her transfer requests.
The court found that Henry failed to establish her FMLA retaliation claim. The court opined:
The Plaintiff is not entitled to damages under the theory that FCSD refused to accommodate her medical condition by transferring her to another school. Such a claim for relief fundamentally misconstrues the purpose of the FMLA, which is merely to "entitle employees to take reasonable medical leave for medical reasons." ... There is nothing in the language of the FMLA that compels employers to provide broad based workplace accommodations to employees with serious medical conditions. The only type of accommodation it provides is medical leave.
Henry v. Fulton County Board of Education, No. 1:05-CV-2008-TWT, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74062 (N.D.Ga. Oct. 10, 2006)
Comment: The FMLA does not require federal employers to accommodate an employer's serious health condition in any form other than leave. Job accommodation may, however, be required by the Rehabilitation Act (if the employee's serious health condition also constitutes a disability), other laws, and/or agency policy, including the terms of a collective bargaining agreement.
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