October 25, 2005
Persky v. Cendant Corporation (PDF, 126KB)
Connecticut Supreme Court case.  When analyzing interference claim under Family and Medical Leave Law, courts should use the strict liability standard, which does not require that the employee alleging a claim of interference prove the employer's intent.

March 8, 2004
B. Kim Persky v. Cendant Corporation (PDF, 1493KB)
Docket No. CV 03-0520241S (Judge Pinkus)  (Appeal to Supreme Court pending.)
The Superior Court found that the Commissioner correctly applied a strict liability standard and that there was substantial evidence in the record to support the Commissioner’s conclusions.

February 6, 2003
A. Kim Persky v. Cendant Corporation (PDF, 2.7MB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 99-50.
After May 24, 1999, when the Complainant’s leave expired, the Commissioner found that the Complainant’s replacement performed duties that were not substantially different in terms of difficulty or skill level from those performed by the Complainant before she took her leave. The Commissioner found that the Complainant’s job had not been eliminated and that the Complainant’s position was still available.

September 19, 2005
Jen Duquette v. Kenyon Oil Company (PDF, 317KB)
Failure of Complainant to appear at hearing.

April 22, 2005
Charles H. Gardner v. Valerie Manor (PDF, 448KB)
Complainant failed to appear at hearing and Commissioner concluded Complainant had not met its burden of proving an FMLA violation.

October 18, 2004 (date of proposed decision)
Igbinevbo Ohenhen v. Bank of America (PDF)
Case dismissed due to Complainant’s failure to establish good cause for filing his CTFMLA complaint late.

March 18, 2004
Patrick Marando, Jr. v. Stop and Shop, Inc. (PDF, 1409KB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 2000-44.
The employer had a uniformly enforced policy that prohibits outside employment during a period of leave.  The Commissioner held that the employer had a legitimate reason for discharging the Complainant under its policy prohibiting certain outside employment while on leave for any reason.

March 14, 2003
Maribeth Shields v. Alternatives, Inc. (PDF, 107KB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 98-37.
The Complainant was appointed to fill an interim position and that because she was hired only for a specific term, the Respondent did not have an obligation to restore the Complainant that position upon the expiration of her leave because the original position as it existed prior to the Complainant’s leave no longer existed.

April 1, 2002
Rebecca Maheu v Webster Bank (PDF, 1.4MB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 2001-24.
Case dismissed for Complainant’s failure to appear and prosecute her own case.  The hearing officer had evidence of the Complainant’s receipt of the notice of the hearing date.

February 4, 2002
Roman Ostrowski v. Guida’s Dairy Products (PDF, 136KB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 2000-53.
The Complainant lacked the one thousand (1000) hours required to be an ‘eligible employee’ under the FMLA.

August 30, 2001
David Schumack v. Super Kmart (PDF, 1.5MB)
Decision of the Commission, FM 99-2.
The Commissioner found that a violation of the FMLA had occurred and awarded the Complainant $36,704.97 in damages.  He found that the Complainant’s final one hour tardiness should have been designated as FMLA leave and that the decision to discharge the Complainant for his absences included that last incident.

August 16, 2001
Nancy Custin v. Boise Cascade (PDF, 253KB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 97-3.
An “employer,” for purposes of the FMLA, must employ 75 or more employees in order to be subject to the Act.  In this case, the employer employed less than the requisite  number of employees during all relevant times. The Commissioner rejected the argument that for the purposes of the 75 or more requirement, the Department of Labor must look outside the boundaries of Connecticut.

March 9, 2001
Marilyn Clare v. Catholic Family Services (PDF, 930KB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 99-44.
The decision found that the Respondent appropriately asked for additional medical information for clarification purposes.  Despite the Respondent’s requests, the Complainant did not submit any additional medical documentation until the time of her grievance.  The Commission found that the Complainant failed to meet her obligations under the FMLA and the Respondent did not violate any provision of the FMLA.

May 16, 2000
David Larensen v. Konica Business Machines U.S.A., Inc. (PDF, 435KB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 9843.
The Commissioner did not find good cause for the late filing.

January 12, 2000
Andrew Elliott v. Pratt & Whitney (PDF, 687KB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 98-33.
The Complainant sought advice and guidance from several attorneys and his medical condition did not prevent him from filing complaints in other form.  The Commissioner did not find good cause for the late filing.

December 4, 1998
Susan Mendes v. St. Joseph College (PDF, 1.2MB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 96-34.
The complaint filed with the Department of Labor in November of 1996 was filed more than 180 days after the employer action which prompted the complaint.   The remaining issue was whether the Complainant had good cause for the late filing.  The Complainant was represented by counsel since at least August of 1994 and a complaint was filed in another forum.  Consequently, the Commissioner did not find good cause for the late filing.

June 16, 1998
Barbara Gierla v. Aetna Life Insurance (PDF, 549KB)
Proposed Decision of the Hearing Officer, FM 95-31.
Proposed decision never became final, parties settled this matter and withdrew the complaint.

December 3, 1997
Inez Hales v. Prudential Insurance (PDF, 1.1MB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 94-44.
Several months prior to her discharge, the Complainant was placed on probation for low production.  The discharge was for a legitimate nondiscrimination reason and the Complainant did not offer any evidence that the decision was pretextual.

October 31, 1997
Cheryl Gray v. Viacom Broadcasting, Inc. d/b/a WVIT-TV, Channel 30 (PDF, 1.4MB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 93-4.  Appealed to Superior Court, but appeal withdrawn pursuant to a settlement in August of 1998. A violation was found because the decision to terminate the Complainant was not made prior to her leave nor were there newly discovered reasons for her termination while she was out on leave.

September 17, 1997
Lisa Lauder v. Sodexho (PDF, 370KB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 94-7.
The elimination of the Complainant’s position was similar to the elimination of an entire division.  She was not discharged because she exercised her rights under the FMLA.

August 8, 1996
Paula S. Friedman v. Gardner Merchant (PDF, 649KB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 91-2
There was no violation of the FMLA because the discharge took place outside of the protected period.

August 28, 1995
Sharon Baker v. General Dynamics (PDF, 2.3MB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 92-6.
The Employer placed the Complainant on FMLA prior to her maternity leave because the Complainant was unable to perform her job.  Placing the Complainant on FMLA leave prior to the birth of her child did not entitle the Complainant to additional weeks of leave after the expiration of her statutory FMLA entitlement.

July 17, 1995
Jeanne Cretella v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield (PDF, 1.1MB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 93-9
In the absence of any first-hand testimony from the Complainant, good cause for the late filing was not found.

January 18, 1995
Catherine Haggquist v. Greenwich Hospital Association, Inc. (PDF, 525KB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 91-12
This case involved a leave that began prior to the existence of the FMLA.  There is nothing in the express language or legislative history that indicates that the FMLA was intended to operate retrospectively to its date of enactment.

October 4, 1994
Pamela Moody v. Sweet Life Foods (PDF, 1.5MB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 93-5.
The Respondent employer attempted to make arrangements to temporarily fill the position in the Complainant’s absence.  When unable to do so, the Respondent simply reassigned the duties to existing and new staff members and found this solution to be workable.  The FMLA clearly does not excuse an employer from compliance simply because an employer learns in an employee’s absence that it can ‘make do’ without that employee.  The Employer failed to restore the Complainant to her original position from which she exercised her rights to FMLA.

June 29, 1994
Carolyn McCarthy v. Bristol Press (PDF, 1171KB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 93-15.
The Complainant did not establish circumstances which would have prevented a reasonably prudent individual in the exercise of due diligence from the timely filing of her complaint and thus had not shown good cause for her untimely filing.

May 25, 1994
Nancy Cannon v. Middlesex Hospital (PDF, 412KB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM-91-10.
There was nothing in the record to substantiate that the Complainant was suffering from a “serious illness.”

January 10, 1994
Martha Lanza v. United Cable (PDF, 1.8MB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 92-4.
The Respondent violated the FMLA through its attendance policy, which provided that corrective action could be taken if an employee took time off for legitimate illness with proper medical documentation and through its performance evaluation procedure, in which an individual’s performance evaluation was negatively affected by the individual’s exercise of the right to a medical leave protected by the FMLA.

December 23, 1992
Diane Cormier v. Textron Lycoming (PDF, 961KB)
Decision of the Commissioner, FM 92-1.
The Complainant failed to sustain her burden of proving that the Employer did not restore her to her original position.  Upon the Complainant’s return to work, neither the nature nor the number of the Complainant’s duties was substantially diminished by the Employer.