Question

explainin your conclusion regarding whether the scenario constitutes a violation of public policy or a breach of a covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Support your conclusion with legal analysis and reasoning.

A machine operator employee with a major depressive disorder intermittently takes leaves under the Family and Medical Leave Act, resulting in alleged harassment by her employer surrounding her FMLA usage as well as a transfer to various difficult machines after her return from leave. Two months after her last FMLA leave, she is terminated for “improper phone usage.” [Hite v. Vermeer Mfg. Co., 361 F. Supp. 2d 935 (S.D. Iowa, 2005).]

Answer 1

The case scenario portrays that the employer did not like employees taking leaves under the FMLA Act. The employer did not believe in the sanctity of the FMLA Act and so kept bothering the employees who took leaves under the act.

The FMLA Act entitles the employees to take leaves due to any medical or family emergency and the employer cannot do any discrimination or denial on this ground. The Act also gives the power to the employees to raise their voice against any kind of retaliation offered by the employer. The employee just has to prove the retaliation based on evidences.

The harassment, transfer and termination of the employee clearly portray the failure of employer to act in good faith. Good faith is the honesty in conduct of the business. The employee can show her transfer records as well as the other cases of improper phone usage and how the company treated the case, as a proof to validate breach of a covenant of good faith and fair dealing.