Graham v. State Farm

• Citation: 193 F.3d 1274
• Decision Date: 28 October 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-6871,98-6871
• Parties: (11th Cir. 1999) Tia GRAHAM, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, an Illinois corporation; and Jean Estes, Defendants-Appellees
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)

Page 1274

193 F.3d 1274 (11th Cir. 1999)

Tia GRAHAM, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, an Illinois corporation; and Jean Estes, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 98-6871.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit

Oct. 28, 1999.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. (No. CV-97-N-2039-S), Edwin L. Nelson, Judge.

Before BLACK and WILSON, Circuit Judges, and HILL, Senior Circuit Judge.

PER CURIAM:

The Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. 2601-2654 (FMLA), ensures that employees may take up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave due to, among other things, serious medical conditions. 29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)(D). As the district court reasoned, a plaintiff suffers no FMLA injury when she receives all the leave she requests, and indeed is paid for most of it. Nor does she have a claim for retaliation based on a supervisor's memorandum warning the employee against future non-FMLA absences.

Accordingly, the district court's grant of summary judgment to the Defendants is affirmed based upon the holding and the rationale contained in the district court's September 28, 1998, order, a copy of which is attached as Appendix A hereto.¹

AFFIRMED.

APPENDIX A

TIA GRAHAM, Plaintiff,

vs.

STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE CO., et al., Defendants.

CV 97-N-2039-S.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA

SOUTHERN DIVISION

Sept. 28, 1998.

EDWIN L. NELSON, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.

Memorandum of Opinion

This action was brought pursuant to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), 28 U.S.C. 2601 et seq., and various Alabama state laws. With regard to the FMLA, the plaintiff alleges that State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. (hereinafter "State Farm") and defendant Jean Estes, a senior occupational health nurse at State Farm, violated her rights under the statute by discriminating against her, harassing her, denying her FMLA protections, retaliating against her for taking leave protected under the FMLA, and constructively discharging her, among other things. Graham also asserts claims on theories of negligence, negligent hiring and training, fraud, and breach of contract, and seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, reinstatement, back pay, and compensatory and punitive damages.

The matter is presently before the court on a motion for summary judgment filed by State Farm on July 30, 1998. The motion has been fully briefed and is ripe for decision. Upon due consideration, defendant's motion for summary judgment will be granted.

I. Statement of Facts.¹

Plaintiff Tia Graham was hired by State Farm on July 6, 1993, to work as a communications operator at State Farm's Alabama-Mississippi Regional office in Birmingham, Alabama. Depo. of T. Graham at 35. As a communications operator, her job duties included answering the telephone and transferring calls, locking and unlocking certain doors, and keying in car mileage on the computer. Id. at 35-38, 43-45. At some point during Graham's employment, she was also given the responsibility of processing certain communications invoices. Id. at 39, 40, 47. Her assigned working hours were 8:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Id. at 46. While employed by State Farm, Graham was an employee-at-will. Aff. of Brian Lancaster at 8.

Angela Graham was hired at State Farm as a management trainee and received a year of management training. Depo. of A. Graham at 13-14, 21. In November of 1994, she became plaintiff's immediate supervisor. Id. at 25; Depo. of T. Graham at 62. Angela Graham reported to Assistant Manager Jan Youngman and Administrative Services Manager Marvin Reeves. Depo. of A. Graham at 14.

Angela Graham received Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) training at the Alabama Regional office; the FMLA training session was for State Farm management and lasted less than one day. Depo. of A. Graham at 46-49. At the training, Angela Graham was "taught our responsibility ... and about the FMLA," the main thrust of which "was I was not a medical doctor, and that it wasn't my responsibility to discuss illnesses with employees, that if an employee wanted FMLA protection, it was their responsibility to seek that protection and to work with medical on getting it." Id. at 46-48, 123-24. Angela Graham received no other training or education on the FMLA or State Farm's FMLA policies. Id. at 123-24.

State Farm's FMLA policy is that an employee must provide a request under the FMLA within two days of returning to work in order for State Farm to designate FMLA protection; employees do not receive FMLA protection from State Farm if they do not make the request within two days. Depo. of Jean Estes at 157-58. Pursuant to State Farm's policies, an employee must complete a written request form in order to receive FMLA protection for an absence from State Farm. Id. at 158-59. State Farm does not consider the completion of a Medical Certification Form by a doctor a request for FMLA protection. Id. at 163-64. If State Farm receives a Medical Certification Form but no request form, State Farm does not consider the absence protected by the FMLA. Id. at 163-65.

At State Farm, only non-FMLA protected absences resulted in absentee memos. Depo. of A. Graham at 55. Angela Graham does not know who at State Farm determines whether an employee's absence is FMLA protected; she just looks at records from her department secretary that shows a list of absences that are nonprotected. Id. at 57. Pursuant to State Farm's FMLA policy, the occupational health nurse at State Farm's Alabama-Mississippi Regional office is charged with the responsibility of making determinations regarding the FMLA. Depo. of Thomas Goya at 49, 58, 59, 71. The senior occupational health nurse at State Farm's Alabama-Mississippi Regional office is Jean Estes, Depo. of Jean Estes at 53. Estes has been employed by State Farm since 1961. Id. at 35-36. Estes received at least a day and a half of training regarding the FMLA at State Farm's headquarters in Illinois. Id. at 69-70. Estes made the FMLA decisions; if she had any question regarding an FMLA designation, she could go to her manual, to management orto corporate. Id. at 162-63. Estes would not make an FMLA determination on information obtained verbally from an employee: "To me, if anything is not in writing, it didn't happen." Id. at 77-78.

State Farm established an FMLA committee consisting of employees from several different departments of State Farm to look at State Farm policies and assist in drafting new policies to comply with the FMLA. Depo. of Thomas Goya at 34-35. Thomas Goya, Kathy Leff, Sverre Olsen (State Farm in-house corporate counsel), and others were members of the FMLA committee. Id. at 35. Drafts of the FMLA policy were submitted to corporate counsel, Id. at 38, and an FMLA policy was adopted by State Farm. Id. at 37.

The State Farm FMLA policy "did not permit absences covered under FMLA to result in negative employment action against an employee when absences were considered covered or protected by the FMLA." Id. at 49. Under State Farm's policy, if an absence qualified under the FMLA, it would be an FMLA protected absence. Id. at 50.

State Farm nurses were trained on how to administer the FMLA policy. Id. at 52. After the initial training sessions, State Farm corporate did not conduct subsequent FMLA training sessions. Id. at 52-53.

The primary responsibility for determining whether an employee's absence was one that was covered by the FMLA was on the Medical Department, and those determinations were generally made by the nurse, pursuant to State Farm's policy. Id. at 58-59. Supervisors had the responsibility to assist the Medical Department (the nurse) in determining whether the employee met a one-year employment requirement and the 1250 hour requirement, as well as whether the employee had exhausted his or her allotment of FMLA. Id. at 56-57.

During plaintiff's employment, she received an employee benefits binder which includes a summary of State Farm's policy regarding the FMLA. Depo. of T. Graham at 185, Ex. 11. However, plaintiff does not recall reading the FMLA policy or it being a part of her binder. Id. at 185-86. Plaintiff attended an FMLA training course given to State Farm employees on August 1, 1995. Id. at 129-131. Plaintiff received written materials concerning State Farm's FMLA policy at the training session. Id. at 183.

On Tuesday, August 29, 1995, plaintiff and her daughter, Nicole Delgado, (who was then age 13) were in a car accident. Id. at 13, 77. Plaintiff and her daughter were stopped at a red light in their car when a truck hit them from behind. Id. at 77, 110. Immediately after the accident, plaintiff was examined at Carraway Methodist Hospital, where she complained of soreness in the left shoulder and neck. Id. at 109; Depo. of Marc Husid at 12. X-rays of plaintiff's spine were taken at the hospital and were normal. Depo. of Marc Husid at 12, 13. Plaintiff was released from the hospital after two to three hours. Depo. of T. Graham at 109.

That evening, plaintiff called Jan Youngman to notify him that she had been in a car accident. Id. at 113, 114. Plaintiff saw her family practitioner, Dr. John Holloway, on August 31, 1995. Id. at 108, 109. On August 31, 1995, Dr. Holloway indicated that Graham could return to work on Tuesday, September 5, 1995. Monday, September 4, 1995 was Labor Day and plaintiff was not scheduled to work that day. Youngman "told [plaintiff] not to worry about it, just stay off until Monday and just relax and just stay out until Monday, there would be no problem." Id. at 114, 115. Prior to the auto accident, Plaintiff's State Farm records do not show attendance or other employment problems on the part of Plaintiff. Depo. of Jean Estes, Ex. 22. Angela Graham, as Plaintiff's supervisor, had no trouble with Plaintiff up to that point. Depo. of A. Graham at 33.

When plaintiff returned to work on September 5, 1995, she checked in with State...