Edgar v. Jac Products, Inc., 05-1193.
| Citation | 443 F.3d 501 |
| Decision Date | 06 April 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-1193.,05-1193. |
| Parties | Gale EDGAR, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. JAC PRODUCTS, INC., Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit) |
ARGUED: Megan A. Bonanni, Pitt, Dowty, McGehee, Mirer & Palmer, Royal Oak, Michigan, for Appellant. Jennifer J. Dawson, Marshall & Melhorn, Toledo, Ohio, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Megan A. Bonanni, Pitt, Dowty, McGehee, Mirer & Palmer, Royal Oak, Michigan, for Appellant. Jennifer J. Dawson, Marshall & Melhorn, Toledo, Ohio, for Appellee.
Before: DAUGHTREY and GILMAN, Circuit Judges; RUSSELL, District Judge.*
Gale Edgar sued her former employer, JAC Products, Inc., based upon an alleged violation of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) after she was fired in October of 2002. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of JAC, concluding that Edgar was not entitled to relief under the FMLA because she was unable to return to work after the 12-week period of statutory leave had ended. On appeal, Edgar argues that her ability to resume her duties is a disputed question of fact that the district court improperly resolved in JAC's favor. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.
Gale Edgar began working for JAC, a manufacturer of specialized automotive products, as an assembler in October of 1984. She later worked as a corporate-quality administrator, a job that she held until the position was eliminated in 2001. At that point, Edgar accepted a transfer to JAC's finance department, where she worked as an accounts-payable clerk.
Edgar began to suffer from work-related stress after her transfer, but refused another transfer to the newly created position of material-data coordinator. On September 16, 2002, her family doctor, Linda Speegle, diagnosed Edgar as suffering from high blood pressure and anxiety. She recommended that Edgar be excused from work through September 29, 2002. Edgar did not heed Speegle's advice, instead deciding to continue working because she "knew that there was nobody [who] could do the check run" set for that week. Dr. Speegle met with Edgar again on September 19, 2002, diagnosed her with "anxiety and an adjustment reaction related to increased [stress] at work," and recommended that her leave be extended through October 6, 2002.
The following morning, Edgar called her supervisor, Cindy Irish, and informed Irish that she would be missing work due to "high blood pressure and anxiety disorder." Irish asked Edgar to come into the office early the following week to answer some questions and to deliver the doctor's note justifying her absence. When Edgar entered the building on September 24, 2002, she was escorted by Jodee Szozda, the Corporate Compensation and Benefits Manager, to a meeting with Szozda and Dennis Kaye, JAC's Corporate Director of Human Resources.
What actually transpired at the meeting is the subject of dispute between the parties. JAC maintains that Kaye and Szozda explained to Edgar her rights and responsibilities under the FMLA, handed her two forms, and instructed her to fill out the forms and return them to JAC. The forms in question were the JAC Products Request for Family or Medical Leave form and a Certification of Health Care Provider form issued by the Department of Labor. JAC's form included a "Note" informing employees that leave requests "must be accompanied by a verifying medical certification from a physician" and that "failure to provide the requested certification within 15 days of the request may result in termination of employment." Edgar acknowledges receiving the forms, but insists that she "didn't understand what was going on," that she was confused because the FMLA procedure differed from the company's previous practice, and that the situation "was very stressful" because her young daughter was with her.
Dr. Speegle examined Edgar again on October 3, 2002, concluding that Edgar continued to suffer from anxiety, dizziness, and insomnia. She extended Edgar's leave until October 14, 2002, by which date Edgar was to have been evaluated by a psychiatrist. Edgar immediately provided Dr. Speegle's updated note to JAC along with the company's Request for Family or Medical Leave form. JAC approved Edgar's requested leave on October 3, 2002. Edgar had not, however, turned in the required medical certification form. On October 7, 2002, JAC mailed her a correct version of the form (because the one given to her at the September 24, 2002 meeting was no longer the one recommended by the Department of Labor) and instructed her to return the form by October 11, 2002, two days after the 15-day deadline would have passed.
Edgar did not receive the updated form until Friday, October 11, 2002. She immediately called Szozda and left a voicemail message explaining that she had just received the form and that she would need an extension. Szozda returned her call the following Monday and, after consulting with Kaye, agreed to give her an extension. The parties dispute the length of the promised extension, with Edgar insisting that Szozda provided a deadline of October 21, 2002, while JAC maintains that Szozda set the deadline for October 18, 2002 as reflected in a memorandum that he placed in Edgar's personnel file. These conflicting versions of the final medical certification deadline led the district court to conclude that a genuine issue of material fact existed that precluded the entry of summary judgment in favor of JAC.
In an effort to comply with the new deadline, Edgar asked Dr. Speegle to fill out the updated medical certification form. Dr. Speegle told Edgar that her office would call when the form was ready. Edgar called Dr. Speegle three times over the next two days and finally arranged for her husband to pick up the completed form on October 21, 2002—the day that Edgar believed marked the deadline for submitting the form. The form, according to Edgar's husband, was picked up from the doctor and delivered by hand to JAC on October 21, 2002, but the company insists that its records reveal that the form was not received until the following day. Kaye mailed a letter on October 21, 2002 terminating Edgar's employment due to her failure to provide the requested medical certification by the October 18, 2002 deadline allegedly set by JAC.
Meanwhile, Edgar was unable to meet with the psychiatrist, Dr. Barbara Day, as scheduled on October 22, 2002. Dr. Day finally evaluated Edgar on October 29, 2002, diagnosed her with "major depression," and determined that she would not be able to return to work until January 16, 2003. After a subsequent examination in December of 2002, Dr. Day extended Edgar's medical leave of absence until February 10, 2003. A second psychiatrist, Dr. Jeri Kedzierski, began treating Edgar in February of 2003. Dr. Kedzierski treated Edgar for approximately a year and finally "released her to work at full capacity as of March 4, 2004," which was 15 months after the expiration of the FMLA-leave period.
In the meantime, Edgar had filed her complaint in the Michigan state-court system in July of 2003. She alleged that JAC had violated the FMLA in four ways: (1) by failing to provide her with written notice of her FMLA rights, (2) by failing to provide her with sufficient time to submit the required medical certification form, (3) by interfering with the exercise of her rights under the statute, and (4) by terminating her employment in violation of the statute. The following month, JAC removed the case to federal court and filed its answer. JAC later filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law because (1) Edgar had failed to provide the required medical certification in accordance with the established deadline, and (2) even if the certification was timely, Edgar suffered no harm from JAC's termination decision because she would not have been able to return to her position at the end of the 12-week period of statutory leave in any event, and thus would have been terminated at that time.
The district court granted JAC's motion for summary judgment in an opinion and order filed in December of 2004. Because of conflicting testimony as to whether Szozda had extended the deadline for filing the requested medical certification form until as late as October 21, 2002, the district court ruled that material facts were in dispute as to Edgar's compliance with the certification requirement. See generally Frazier v. Honda of Am. Mfg., Inc., 431 F.3d 563, 566 (6th Cir.2005) ().
The district court concluded, however, that JAC was entitled to summary judgment on the alternative ground that Edgar "was not released to return to work at the time her leave would have ended [and therefore] ha[d] no claim under the FMLA." In so ruling, the district court relied on this court's opinion in Cehrs v. Northeast Ohio Alzheimer's Research Center, 155 F.3d 775 (6th Cir.1998), and two district court opinions. Edgar's timely appeal followed.
The district court's grant of summary judgment is reviewed de novo. Int'l Union v. Cummins, Inc., 434 F.3d 478, 483 (6th Cir.2006). Summary judgment is proper where there exists no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). In considering a motion for summary judgment, the district court must construe the evidence and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 ...
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