What happens when an employee takes an extended leave of absence but fails to complete the employer’s required documentation? This is the issue the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (federal appellate court deciding cases from Alabama, Florida, and Georgia) recently tackled, upholding dismissal of a worker’s claim that his employer interfered with FMLA leave rights, and reaffirming that the employee had not been entitled to an indefinite, medically-unsupported leave of absence. See Walker v. UPS Inc., 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 28712 (11th Cir. 2022)
The Facts
Ryan Walker started working for UPS back in 1996. In late 2016, UPS demoted Ryan as business manager and transferred him to another nearby facility. Following his demotion and transfer, Walker failed to show up for work, asked for FMLA leave, and applied for short-term disability benefits (STD). Aetna (UPS’s third-party benefits administrator) responded to Walker’s STD application by requesting that he verify his condition and provide supporting medical documentation. After multiple requests for that information, Walker finally submitted a one-page doctor’s note, which failed to identify the date of onset, provide information about the nature of his illness, or indicate the inability to perform one or more of his essential job duties. Due to his noncompliance, Aetna denied Walker’s STD claim and UPS denied his FMLA leave request.
By that point, and well into 2017, Walker had already been on leave for six weeks. Accordingly, UPS requested that he return to work, however Walker stayed home another five weeks. After having been absent for eleven weeks, Walker sought even more leave, but again never submitted any supporting medical documentation. Eight weeks later, at which point Walker had been away for some five months, UPS again asked Walker to provide supporting medical documentation and warned him that his failure to do so would result in his termination. Walker refused those repeated requests, and as expected, UPS fired him.
The Analysis
Following Walker’s termination, he filed a federal lawsuit against UPS, claiming that his separation interfered with his right to take FMLA leave. The trial court dismissed Walker’s claim on the grounds that he had failed to submit proper documentation to substantiate his need for FMLA leave. The court’s decision survived an appeal to the Eleventh Circuit.
Indeed, the FMLA provides that an eligible employee is entitled to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave due to a “serious health condition,” such as a mental or physical illness, impairment, or injury. However, to qualify for FMLA leave, an employee must provide a complete and sufficient medical certification, which must include, among other things, the health care provider’s contact information and credentials and identify the approximate commencement date, condition, duration, and clinical description of the employee’s health condition. If the employee fails to provide a valid certification, the employer may lawfully deny the employee’s leave request. Here, because Walker failed to meet this fundamental requirement – provide his employer with a completed medical certification – his FMLA claim had no merit, and he lost his case. Considering that Walker had already received a five-month leave of absence, he suffered little harm anyway.
The Takeaway
For HR professionals and employment lawyers alike, the FMLA can be complex, cumbersome, and confusing, with compliance efforts frequently at odds with difficult employees, miscommunication, and conflicting court decisions. However, despite the ever-present risk of a lawsuit, employers should remain vigilant and require workers to comply with the rules. And, that means, as shown here, a company should demand that an employee seeking FMLA leave provide a complete medical certification from the treating healthcare provider. The USDOL even provides the recommended certification form here. It’s not a tall order.
As this case reminds us, when an employee seeks an open-ended leave, the employer should ask for additional supporting documentation, particularly when the details are less than clear. By pushing back on vague certifications and inconsistent and medically unsupported leave requests, an employer, in turn, signals to its employees that it takes FMLA administration seriously and will not permit leave abuse. Indeed, FMLA compliance is a two-way street, with both the employer and employee bearing their own set of obligations. Just as the employer is responsible for understanding and applying the rules, the employee must likewise abide by them. And, as demonstrated here, an employer can handily win an FMLA lawsuit by steadfast insistence upon compliance with the rules.
The FMLA can be tricky but there is most always a solution to every leave-related problem. If your HR team struggles with FMLA and other leave of absence requests, we understand and we can help. Consult Agenzia.
(CBLLC.6.2.2026)
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