Guzman v. Brown County

Guzman was a Brown County 911 dispatcher from 2002-2013. Since 2011, Brown County has had a third-party vendor manage disability, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and unpaid leave requests. Employees do not need approval from a supervisor. Guzman was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2006 and, in 2008, had gastric bypass surgery. Guzman received five warnings concerning her use of vacation time or casual time in 2004-2013, three warnings for failure to timely complete mandatory proficiency tests, and a warning for failure to report to work on a date that she mistakenly believed that she was not scheduled to work. Guzman was disciplined for being late to work in 2011 and three times in 2012. On February 9, 2013, Guzman failed to report and was given a three-day suspension and warned that if she was late again she could be fired. Guzman attributed her tardiness to sleeping through her alarms and did not mention sleep apnea. There is no evidence that her supervisors were aware of that diagnosis. On March 8, Guzman was again tardy. Guzman’s psychiatrist wrote a note stating that Guzman “most probably” had sleep apnea, and needed to be retested. Her employment was terminated. The Seventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment rejecting Guzman’s suit under the FMLA, 29 U.S.C. 2601, the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. 12112, and the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. 794. There was no evidence that Guzman requested FMLA leave before her termination. View "Guzman v. Brown County" on Justia Law