Campbell v. Jefferson University Physicians

22 F. Supp. 3d 478, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71707, 2014 WL 2194519
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 27, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. 13-3006
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 22 F. Supp. 3d 478 (Campbell v. Jefferson University Physicians) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Campbell v. Jefferson University Physicians, 22 F. Supp. 3d 478, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71707, 2014 WL 2194519 (E.D. Pa. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

DALZELL, District Judge.

I. Introduction

Joanne Campbell brings this action against her former employer, Jefferson University Physicians (“JUP”)1, alleging violations of her rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), 29 U.S.C. §§'2601 et seq. JUP now moves for summary judgment on Campbell’s FMLA claim, and we exercise jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331.

In her amended complaint, Campbell claimed that JUP “interfered with, restrained, discriminated against[,] and denied Plaintiffs entitlement to FMLA benefits” by, inter alia, “terminating Plaintiff’, [480]*480“denying Plaintiff her entitlement to full FMLA benefits”, “discriminately ending Plaintiffs right to leave”, and “discriminating against Plaintiff for taking FMLA leave”, Am. Comp, at ¶ 26.

JUP argues that summary judgment is warranted because it contends that Campbell’s interference and retaliation claims depend on her “demonstrably false assertion that the third-party administrator for JUP’s FMLA program told her that her employment at JUP had been terminated.” Def. MSJ at 1. According to JUP, Campbell stopped reporting for work and following JUP’s “call-off protocol”, and “no manager of JUP ever told her she had been terminated until after she removed her belongings and said goodbye to her coworkers.” Id. JUP argues that Campbell was thus “not denied any rights under the FMLA as she received all of the leave to which she was entitled”, and that she was not “denied reinstatement as she never sought to return to her position”. JUP also contends that Campbell was not the victim of retaliation because “[t]here is no causal connection between Plaintiffs FMLA leave and the end of her employment, nor is there any evidence of pretext on any level.” Id. at 1-2.

In her opposition to the motion for summary judgment Campbell does not address retaliation, discussing only interference with her FMLA rights. In her contentions as to the interference claim in her response to JUP’s summary judgment motion, Campbell raises for the first time the argument that JUP interfered with her FMLA rights by improperly conducting the recertification process that 29 C.F.R. § 825.308 provides her. See PI. Resp. at 3.

Campbell now contends that

The crux of this case is whether Defendant JUP, by and through its designated third party administrator for FMLA, interfered with Plaintiffs rights under the FMLA, by not informing her of her rights to a recertification, by not informing her of the consequences of not obtaining the recertification, denying her the full amount .of time to obtain the recertification, and by terminating her before she had opportunity to obtain a recertification.

Id.

Campbell argues that there are genuine disputes over whether she violated any company call-out policy, whether she was fired, and whether her continuing absences from work subjected her to termination. Id. at 4-5.

II. Standard of Review

A party moving for summary judgment bears the initial burden of informing the district court of the basis for its argument that there is no genuine issue of material fact by “identifying those portions of ‘the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any,’ which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact”, Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

If the moving party meets this initial burden, Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 then obliges “the nonmoving party to go beyond the pleadings and by her own affidavits, or by the ‘depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file,’ designate ‘specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.’ ” Id. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548.

A factual dispute is genuine

[I]f the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.... The mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the plaintiffs position will be insufficient; there must be evidence on which [481]*481the jury could reasonably find for the plaintiff.

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A fact is “material” if it “might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law”. Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

We “must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party, and [we] may not make credibility determinations or weigh the evidence.”' Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 150, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000), cited in Armour v. County of Beaver, 271 F.3d 417, 420 (3d Cir.2001).

III. Facts

In rehearsing the facts in this matter we refer primarily to JUP’s Statement of Material Facts (hereinafter “SMF”). Campbell admitted all but one of these items— she contests only the date of her termination. We will note those instances below where Campbell has submitted additional facts relevant to our analysis.

JUP hired Campbell as a Patient Registrar in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology on June 5, 2005, and she worked there until January of 2013. Def. Statement of Material Facts (hereinafter “SMF”) at ¶¶ 1, 3. Campbell reported to Nurse Manager Leslie Kinkier, who reported to Fran Herr, Administrator for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Campbell’s “second-level supervisor.” Id. at ¶¶ 4-5.

On January 22, 2008 Campbell’s husband, Darryl Maxwell, was diagnosed with chronic grand mal seizures. Id. at ¶ 13. These seizures occur occasionally and last for about two to four minutes, during which Maxwell suffers loss of consciousness and motor control. Id. at ¶ 14. After the seizures, Maxwell returns to a normal level of functioning within six to eight hours, during which he sleeps and Campbell and her children check on him to make sure he has not had another seizure. Id. at ¶¶ 16-17. Maxwell typically does not require hospitalization or ongoing care after this recovery period. Id. at ¶ 19.

JUP has contracted with Matrix to administer employee leaves of absence. Id. at ¶ 10. Campbell requested and received intermittent use of FMLA leave from 2008 through 2012 to care for Maxwell. On June 12, 2012 Maxwell’s treating neurologist, Dr. Mintzer, filled out an FMLA re-certification form in which he wrote that Campbell may need intermittent FMLA leave for one seizure in a twelve-month period, for one day per episode. Id. at ¶ 21.

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22 F. Supp. 3d 478, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71707, 2014 WL 2194519, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/campbell-v-jefferson-university-physicians-paed-2014.