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[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________
No. 16-17363 ________________________
D.C. Docket No. 3:15-cv-00728-HLA-MCR
DENISE BENZ,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
CROWLEY MARITIME CORPORATION, CROWLEY LOGISTICS, INC.,
Defendants-Appellees.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida _________________________
(April 27, 2018)
Before JILL PRYOR, ANDERSON, and HULL, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Plaintiff Denise Benz appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment
to Defendants Crowley Maritime Corporation and Crowley Logistics, Inc. Case: 16-17363 Date Filed: 04/27/2018 Page: 2 of 25
(collectively, “Crowley”). Plaintiff Benz sued her employer Crowley alleging that
she was terminated based on age and gender discrimination and in retaliation for
exercising her rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”). She
also claimed that Crowley interfered with her FMLA rights. Having the benefit of
oral argument and after carefully reviewing the briefs and relevant parts of the
record, we affirm the judgment in favor of Crowley as to Benz’s age and gender
discrimination claims and reverse as to Benz’s FMLA retaliation and interference
claims.
I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND We recount the facts in the light most favorable to Benz.
A. Benz’s Employment History from 2003-2015
Crowley operates warehouses in the United States and abroad, including
facilities in Jacksonville, Florida and San Juan, Puerto Rico. From June 2, 2003
until her termination on February 6, 2015, Denise Benz worked in Crowley’s
warehouse in Jacksonville, Florida. When Benz was hired, she was the only
warehouse employee. Benz later served as a “warehouse supervisor” and an
“operations manager.”
By the time of her termination in 2015, the Jacksonville operations had
grown substantially. Benz had been promoted to warehouse manager in 2014 and
was supervising between 20 and 30 employees. Benz’s responsibilities included
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storing, loading, organizing, and transporting customers’ shipments from point of
origin to point of destination. Benz was often the only female who worked at the
Jacksonville warehouse.
B. Evaluations of Benz’s Job Performance
During her time at Crowley, Benz received high marks on her performance
reviews. Benz’s supervisors consistently told her that she was performing well,
typically exceeding Crowley’s expectations. Specifically, Benz’s supervisors
commended her organizational skills and leadership abilities, noting that Benz
worked well with others and challenged her subordinates to complete their tasks on
time. Benz’s supervisors praised her ability to efficiently manage the warehouse’s
operations while maintaining a clean and safe work environment. Benz also
received recognition for her personal productivity and her ability to capably
implement change. Crowley management also applauded Benz’s efforts in
establishing and implementing standard operating procedures for her warehouse.
In February 2014, Benz received her 2013 performance evaluation, the last
formal one she received before her termination in February 2015. The evaluation
was prepared by Jennifer Morales, who was Benz’s direct supervisor and worked
alongside Benz in the Jacksonville warehouse. Morales wrote that Benz had “done
a great job” and commended her for “striv[ing] to do her utmost in ensuring that all
services performed in the warehouse are done so with accuracy and integrity.”
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Morales also wrote that Benz had reduced costs, ensured the safety of her workers,
and worked efficiently.
In addition, Benz’s supervisors noted her ability to provide a high level of
service to Crowley’s customers and for helping to grow Crowley’s business. As
one of Benz’s supervisors put it, “[Benz] is all about customer satisfaction,”
“always go[ing] out of her way to ensure [that] the customers[’] expectations are
met.”
Even after Benz was terminated, several employees of Crowley’s customers,
Morningstar Freight Forwarding and Coca-Cola, wrote recommendation letters for
Benz. One letter described Benz as being “continuously helpful” and “great at
managing [customers’] demands” in a “highly skilled” manner. Another letter
stated that Benz had “remarkable talents for business, management and
communications” making her “a great candidate for any organization.” The letter
described Benz as meeting “every deadline and challenge with grace and ease” and
stated that she had “always been a pleasure to work with.” One letter commended
Benz for “flawlessly” executing projects, working as a “no nonsense” manager,
flexibly accommodating customers’ demands, and proactively communicating with
Crowley’s customers to solve any problems that would arise. The letter concluded
with the observation that “[w]hatever you ask [Benz] to do is one more thing that
you no longer have to worry about.”
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Benz also received multiple awards for her performance based on
recommendations from her superiors. In July 2011, Benz received an award for
“Operational Excellence and Customer Satisfaction.” The award praised Benz for
her “quick thinking and proactive approach” after she completed a customer’s
shipping order on short notice “with a perfect delivery schedule.” In August 2013,
Benz received an award for helping to sign a prospective customer by successfully
handling a number of test shipments. The award noted that Benz worked overtime
hours, weekends, and even skipped a friend’s wedding in order to ensure that
Crowley retained the new customer. In April 2014, Benz received a $5,000
performance bonus.
In general, Benz was well liked by her subordinates, who testified that she
was a good boss and treated her employees fairly. One warehouse worker testified
that “working with [Benz] was great,” that she “was a great trainer,” and that he’d
like to go work for her again in the future.
C. January-May 2014
In October 2013, Ayesha Diaz became General Manager of Crowley
Caribbean Logistics. At the time, Jennifer Morales was still Benz’s direct
supervisor in the Jacksonville warehouse. Benz reported directly to Morales, who
in turn reported to Diaz.
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Shortly after Diaz became General Manager, Diaz and Morales began to
critique the Jacksonville warehouse’s operations and Benz’s performance. Diaz’s
concern was that the Jacksonville warehouse employees lacked focus, did not
know how to complete certain tasks, and were making mistakes. In early 2014,
Diaz tasked Benz with establishing standardized operating procedures. Diaz was
concerned that Benz’s management style was more focused on day-to-day
operations instead of long-term strategic planning. Morales also became
concerned with Benz’s leadership style and her aggressive way of communicating
with other employees, which made them feel uncomfortable.
In April 2014, Crowley management received complaints that Benz had
uttered racial slurs in the workplace. Upon learning of the allegations, Tiffany
King, a Human Resources manager at Crowley, interviewed three employees who
worked at the Jacksonville warehouse—Timothy Fontaine, Adrian Rainey, and
Patrick Wells. King found out that Rainey and Wells did not actually hear Benz
use any slur. Rather, they had heard from Fontaine that Benz had uttered a racial
slur.
King believed Fontaine’s allegations because he was a top performer with no
history of disciplinary problems, while Benz’s “past behaviors” suggested that it
was possible that she had used the slur. King did not elaborate what “past
behaviors” led her to this conclusion.
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On May 22, 2014, Morales and King gave Benz a Final Written Warning
(“FWW”) concerning the allegations. Under Crowley’s “progressive discipline
policy,” a FWW can be both (1) Crowley’s initial response to a disciplinary
infraction and (2) also the final step before termination. The FWW accused Benz
of (1) using “racial slurs in the workplace when making comments about
employees,” (2) using inappropriate “tone and language” in the warehouse,
(3) being on a “mood elevator,” and (4) not sufficiently motivating her employees.
The FWW also reminded Benz of the need to maintain a certain level of
confidentiality concerning discussions about her subordinates.
Benz was “stunned” when she received the FWW. Crowley had never
disciplined Benz before for any infraction. 1 No one at Crowley had spoken to
Benz about any of the performance issues alleged in the FWW. When Morales and
King gave Benz the FWW, they did not give specific examples of the performance
concerns referenced in the FWW.
On June 18, 2014, Benz wrote an email to King (of Human Resources) and
Morales (her superior) denying the FWW’s allegations. During a meeting with
Morales and King in August 2014, Benz requested that the FWW be removed from
her file. King denied Benz’s request.
1 The parties dispute whether this was Benz’s first disciplinary incident or whether there had been other disciplinary notices.
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D. Benz’s FMLA Leave in July 2014
In July 2014, Benz’s daughter was diagnosed with uterine sarcoma.
Crowley management and Benz’s subordinates became well aware that Benz’s
daughter was ill. Benz stated that, because she was close with the warehouse
employees, “virtually all of them” knew about her daughter’s cancer and asked her
about it frequently. In July 2014, Benz took one month of FMLA leave to care for
her daughter.
On June 30, 2014, the day before Benz’s FMLA leave began, Diaz emailed
Morales and King stating that she was “concern[ed] about this FML from [Benz]”
and that “we should sit and have a backup plan in place.”
E. June-October 2014
Starting in June 2014 and continuing through October 2014, Diaz and
Morales began to discuss internally Benz’s performance. First, while Benz was
out on FMLA leave in July 2014, Morales helped supervise the warehouse and sent
a note to King in which she observed that some of the issues mentioned in Benz’s
FWW were still present.
Morales also began to compile complaints from Morningstar and Coca-Cola,
who criticized the efficiency and organization of the Jacksonville warehouse.
According to Crowley, Benz’s superiors received complaints about goods being
shipped in the wrong containers, containers being shipped late, shipment
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paperwork being filled out incorrectly, and containers being shipped without seals
(which would allow the customer to reject the shipment). In October 2014,
Crowley management also received reports that some of Benz’s subordinates were
getting into fistfights at work. Though these issues arose from Benz’s warehouse,
they were never directly attributed to Benz. Still, Diaz and Morales placed at least
some of the blame on Benz’s leadership and organizational abilities.
The problem for Crowley though is that, from June through October 2014,
Diaz and Morales never told Benz of these customer complaints or about Diaz’s or
Morales’s various concerns. Instead, Benz was consistently told that she was
“doing a good job in all respects.”
After the FWW in May 2014, the only critiques communicated to Benz from
June through October 2014 were that she spent too much time operating the forklift
when in the warehouse and that she needed to develop standard operating
procedures for her subordinates. Benz responded by limiting her use of the
forklift—only using it when necessary to meet workload demands and after getting
approval from Morales—and drafting standard operating procedures. Benz also
implemented changes to the warehouse and conducted training sessions for her
subordinates as recommended by Diaz, which quickly led to better results.
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F. Layoffs Announced on September 30, 2014
On September 30, 2014, Crowley issued a company-wide announcement
captioned “Crowley Restructuring to Set Company on Path of Sustained Growth
and Success,” announcing layoffs which were to occur “[o]ver the next several
days.” The announcement explained that “[u]pper management performed a
thorough evaluation of each position and determined those that should be
eliminated.” The announcement asked the question, “How many employees will
be laid off?” with the answer, “[a]bout 50 Stateside and 50 offshore within the
liner, logistics and corporate services groups.” Under Crowley’s layoff policy,
business unit leaders document and maintain records of their analysis for selecting
employees for layoff, evaluating the employees’ “seniority, their performance, and
their skill set.”
Before the announcement on September 30, 2014, direct supervisor Morales
had already announced to Benz and her crew that no Jacksonville warehouse
employees were expected to be included in the layoff. In September 2014, Diaz
submitted a list of 13 employees in Puerto Rico whom she selected for layoff in
October 2014. Diaz did not submit a list of anyone to be laid off in the
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G. Benz’s Termination
On October 28, 2014, almost a month after Crowley made its layoff
announcement, Morales emailed Diaz and King about Benz’s performance,
including operational concerns and complaints from customers. Morales observed
that Benz’s subordinates lacked focus and had difficulty completing their tasks. In
a subsequent email, Morales explained to Diaz and King that “Supervision,
Communication, Service Failures[,] and Customer Complaints” were all ongoing
issues with Benz.
Later that same day, Diaz emailed Francis Larkin, Senior Vice President of
Logistics at Crowley Logistics, stating that she was having problems with Benz,
citing her lack of managerial skills, lack of supervision, and lack of control. Diaz
recommended that Benz be terminated and noted that “[w]e do have enough to let
[Benz] go at this time.”
On the morning of October 29, Larkin accepted Diaz’s recommendation, but
requested that Diaz delay the actual termination until after Christmas “out of
compassion for [Benz] and to alleviate any hardships that she would have suffered
by being laid off prior to the Christmas holiday season.” Christmas and January
came and went with no termination of Benz.
During the week of January 19, 2015, Benz obtained permission from
Morales to use a week of her accrued vacation time in order to take care of her ill
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daughter from January 26 until January 30, 2015 at the M.D. Anderson Cancer
Center in Houston, Texas.
Before Benz’s vacation leave began, Morales asked Benz if she “planned to
take further FMLA leave” in order to care for her daughter. Benz responded that
she would need to take FMLA leave again, explaining that her daughter’s
condition was not improving. After Benz told Morales she would need to take
FMLA again, Diaz, King, and Morales immediately emailed one another about the
prospect of terminating Benz.
On February 4, 2015, only a few days after returning to work, Benz
requested another month of FMLA leave so that she could again care for her
daughter from February 9 through March 9, 2015. Benz’s FMLA request was
approved by Crowley Human Resources that same day. However, after speaking
with Crowley Human Resources, Benz emailed Morales the next day (February 5),
asking if she could use her accrued vacation time in lieu of FMLA leave to care for
her daughter, as she had done the week before. Morales did not respond to Benz’s
request.
On February 6, 2015—the Friday before Benz was to begin her approved
FMLA leave on February 9—Morales and King terminated Benz. Benz was not
provided with a letter of termination, but was verbally terminated by Morales and
King. In the brief termination meeting, Morales and King told Benz that her
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position was being eliminated due to “budget cuts,” but said nothing as to Benz’s
job performance. 2
H. Procedural History
On June 18, 2015, Benz filed a complaint against Crowley, alleging that
Crowley fired her because of her age, gender, and in retaliation for taking FMLA
leave. She also asserted that Crowley had interfered with her rights under the
FMLA. On July 1, 2016, Crowley filed a motion for summary judgment on all of
Benz’s claims, which the district court granted.3 On November 30, 2016, Benz
appealed.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW This Court reviews de novo a district court’s grant of summary judgment.
Furcron v. Mail Ctrs. Plus, LLC, 843 F.3d 1295, 1303 (11th Cir. 2016).
Summary judgment is appropriate “if the movant shows that there is no
genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a
matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). A factual dispute exists where a reasonable
fact-finder could find by a preponderance of the evidence that the non-moving
party is entitled to a verdict. Kernel Records Oy v. Mosley, 694 F.3d 1294, 1300
2 Back in October 2014, several employees from Crowley’s marketing and sales office in Jacksonville, Florida had been terminated pursuant to the layoff. At that time, no one from the Jacksonville warehouse was terminated as part of the layoffs. 3 The district court also granted summary judgment on Benz’s claims for disability discrimination. This claim is without merit and warrants no discussion.
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(11th Cir. 2012). In determining whether evidence creates a factual dispute, a
court should draw reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party. Id. at
1301.
III. BENZ’S FMLA RETALIATION CLAIM When evaluating a claim of retaliation under the FMLA, in the absence of
direct evidence of discrimination on the part of the employer, we apply the burden-
shifting framework established by the Supreme Court in McDonnell Douglas Corp.
v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S. Ct. 1817 (1973). Brungart v. BellSouth Telecomms.,
Inc., 231 F.3d 791, 798 (11th Cir. 2000). Under this framework, Benz must first
establish a prima facie case of FMLA retaliation. If she does so, the burden of
production then shifts to Crowley to assert a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason
for terminating Benz. If Crowley produces a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason,
Benz must show that Crowley’s proffered reason is false and that the real reason
for her termination was her application for FMLA leave.
A. Benz’s Prima Facie Case To establish a prima facie case of FMLA retaliation, the plaintiff must show
that (1) she engaged in statutorily protected conduct, (2) she suffered a materially
adverse employment action, and (3) the adverse action was causally related to the
protected conduct. Schaaf v. Smithkline Beecham Corp., 602 F.3d 1236, 1243
(11th Cir. 2010).
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Benz established a prima facie case for FMLA retaliation. Benz engaged in
a statutorily protected activity when she applied for FMLA leave and suffered an
adverse employment action when she was terminated. Brungart, 231 F.3d at 798
(stating that a plaintiff engages in a protected activity when she applies for FMLA
leave). Given the close temporal proximity between her application for FMLA
leave (on February 4, 2015) and her termination (on February 6, 2015), Benz also
satisfied the causal connection element for purposes of a prima facie case. See
Hurlbert v. St. Mary’s Health Care Sys., 439 F.3d 1286, 1298 (11th Cir. 2006) (at
the prima facie stage, “[c]lose temporal proximity between protected conduct and
an adverse employment action is generally sufficient circumstantial evidence to
create a genuine issue of material fact of a causal connection” (quotation omitted));
Krutzig v. Pulte Home Corp., 602 F.3d 1231, 1234 (11th Cir. 2010) (concluding
that the plaintiff satisfies the causal connection element by showing that the
protected activity and adverse action were “not wholly unrelated” (quotation
omitted)).
B. Crowley’s Proffered Reason Because Benz has made out a prima facie case of FMLA retaliation, the
burden shifts to Crowley to articulate a non-discriminatory reason for her
termination. Though King and Morales told Benz that she was fired, Crowley
contends that Diaz was the “final decision maker” as to Benz’s termination. Diaz
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testified that the allegation that Benz had uttered racial slurs in the warehouse was
not a factor in her decision to terminate Benz. Rather, Diaz’s position is that she
terminated Benz as part of Crowley’s “cost reduction effort” and that she selected
Benz in light of her poor performance, conduct, and lack of managerial skills.
Diaz was not at the termination meeting but had King and Morales meet with Benz
and fire her as part of the cost reduction. Crowley’s stated reason for firing
Benz—as part of a cost-reduction and based on Benz’s job performance—
constitutes a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason.
C. Pretext The burden thus shifts back to Benz to show that this reason is pretextual.
Smith v. BellSouth Telecomms., Inc., 273 F.3d 1303, 1314 (11th Cir. 2001). That
is, Benz must submit evidence demonstrating that Crowley’s proffered reason for
her termination is false and that the real reason for firing her was her application
for FMLA leave. St. Mary’s Honor Ctr. v. Hicks, 509 U.S. 502, 515, 113 S. Ct.
2742, 2752 (1993). After viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Benz,
we conclude that Benz has presented a triable issue as to whether Crowley’s
proffered reason is pretextual.
To begin with, Crowley’s claim that it fired Benz as part of its announced
budget cuts is contradicted by the timing and circumstances of Benz’s termination.
Crowley announced its layoffs on September 30, 2014, stating that it would be
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laying off several employees “[o]ver the next several days” in light of “a thorough
evaluation” already performed by upper management. But Diaz did not reach out
to Larkin about terminating Benz until October 28, 2014, eventually terminating
her in February 2015, nearly four months after Crowley had already implemented
its layoffs by terminating approximately 100 employees. Indeed, when Crowley
announced its cost-reduction effort on September 30, 2014, Morales told the
Jacksonville warehouse employees that none of them would be terminated as part
of the budget initiative.
Crowley attempts to explain this delay with Larkin’s affidavit, in which
Larkin testified that he asked Diaz to wait until after Christmas to terminate Benz.
But then after Christmas and even in January 2015, Benz was not terminated.
Rather, Benz was terminated in February 2015, only immediately after she had
requested 28 days of additional FMLA leave.
Furthermore, although Crowley told Benz in February 2015 that she was
terminated only due to budget cuts, Crowley now contends that Benz was actually
selected because of poor performance. According to Benz’s version of the
evidence, her stellar career history at Crowley belies that claim, too. For nearly
twelve years, Benz’s superiors consistently gave her positive performance reviews.
Benz received several awards during her career, recognizing her for her strong
leadership abilities and active role in growing Crowley’s business. Benz also
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received a $5,000 performance bonus in April 2014—which is, oddly enough,
around the time Morales and Diaz allege that they became concerned with Benz’s
performance.
Further, under Benz’s version of the events, prior to the FWW in May 2014,
she had never been disciplined by Crowley or told by her superiors that she was
doing anything less than an admirable job. Then, after Benz was given the FWW
in May 2014, Crowley during the next eight months (June 2014 to February 2015)
never notified Benz of any further performance issues or disciplinary infractions.
Given the evidence as a whole, a reasonable jury could find that Crowley began
papering its files with criticisms of Benz but without giving Benz any notice of
these criticisms. In fact, when Benz asked Morales and King during her
termination meeting why she was being terminated, Morales and King still made
no mention of Benz’s job performance and told Benz that the reason was budget
cuts.
Given the totality of the evidence, a reasonable jury could conclude that the
real reason why Crowley terminated Benz on February 6 was her February 4
request for 28 days more of FMLA leave. For example, there is some evidence
suggesting that Diaz, at the very least, was displeased with Benz for already taking
a month of FMLA leave back in July 2014, and may even have been considering
terminating her because of it. When King in Human Resources informed Diaz
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through email that Benz was taking nearly a month of FMLA leave in July 2014,
Diaz replied, “I’m concern[ed] about this FML from [Benz]” and that Benz’s
superiors needed to “sit and have a backup plan in place.” While Diaz’s email
could be construed as simply stating that Crowley needed to find someone to fill-in
for Benz, a reasonable jury could also interpret the email as expressing disapproval
over Benz taking this whole month as FMLA leave and suggesting that Crowley
needed to plan for Benz’s possible termination.
Second, although the layoffs were announced on September 30 and took
place over the next several days, Benz was not one of the 100 employees laid off at
the time. A jury could easily find that these budget cuts were not the reason for
Benz’s termination in 2015 even though Crowley claimed that they were.
Third, there is the more specific timing of Benz’s termination. As noted,
Benz’s superiors discussed the prospect of terminating Benz on October 28, 2014
based on performance, allegedly deciding to delay her discharge until after
Christmas. Curiously, however, Benz’s superiors, despite the alleged performance
issues, did not terminate Benz after Christmas or even during January 2015.
Rather, when Benz’s daughter’s condition worsened in January 2015, Benz
told Morales that she probably would need to take additional FMLA leave, as it
appeared likely that her daughter would undergo chemotherapy because her
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condition was not improving.4 Shortly after that conversation, on January 26,
2015—the very day that Benz began her week-long trip to visit her ailing
daughter—Morales, King, and Diaz resurrected the termination discussion about
when they would fire Benz. From January 19 until January 26, 2014, Benz used
her accrued vacation time to visit her ill daughter, who was receiving treatment in
Houston at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
On February 4, 2015, only a few days after Benz returned from a weeklong
trip to care for her daughter, Benz formally requested FMLA leave to care for her
daughter again from February 9 until March 10, 2015. Just two days after making
this request, and on the last business day before she was to take nearly a month of
FMLA leave, Benz was fired. Given this close timing as well as all of the other
evidence outlined above, a reasonable jury could infer that the true reason for
Benz’s termination was her continuing need to take FMLA leave to care for her
daughter and not budget cuts or performance issues.
That Benz attempted to withdraw her FMLA request on February 5 on the
advice of Crowley Human Resources and instead to seek permission to use her
accrued vacation time does not alter that conclusion. As noted above, Morales
4 We reject Crowley’s claim that there is no evidence that Crowley had knowledge of Benz’s need for more FMLA leave. The district court denied Crowley’s motion to strike Benz’s affidavit in this regard. Further, Diaz testified that the termination was her idea and admitted that she knew that Benz planned to take FMLA leave, but that she was “not sure when” she knew.
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never responded to Benz’s email asking to change the type of leave, and Benz’s
approved FMLA leave was never withdrawn. Indeed, on February 14, 2015, over
a week after she was terminated, Benz received an email containing her leave of
absence packet and FMLA eligibility notice letter. Moreover, Benz had recently
advised Morales—who asked Benz “frequently, often on a weekly basis” about her
need for FMLA leave—that she would have an ongoing need for future FMLA
leave to care for her daughter during her chemotherapy. A reasonable jury could
interpret Benz’s attempt to change her leave request not as an indication that she
no longer needed FMLA leave, but rather as a strategic decision to use other leave
first and preserve her FMLA leave for anticipated future trips to care for her
daughter.
The foregoing evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to Benz,
creates a triable issue as to whether Crowley terminated Benz in retaliation for
requesting FMLA leave. Smith v. Lockheed-Martin Corp., 644 F.3d 1321, 1328
(11th Cir. 2011) (explaining that the plaintiff will always survive summary
judgment if she presents “a convincing mosaic of circumstantial evidence that
would allow a jury to infer intentional discrimination by the decisionmaker”
(quotation and footnote omitted)). Accordingly, the district court erred in granting
summary judgment to Crowley on Benz’s FMLA retaliation claim.
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IV. BENZ’S FMLA INTERFERENCE CLAIM
Similarly, Benz has submitted enough evidence to present a triable issue as
to whether Crowley unlawfully interfered with her right to take FMLA leave.
“[T]o state a claim that [her] employer has interfered with a substantive
FMLA right, a plaintiff need only demonstrate that [she] was entitled to but denied
the right.” Strickland v. Water Works & Sewer Bd. of Birmingham, 239 F.3d
1199, 1208 (11th Cir. 2001). However, the plaintiff does not have to allege that
her employer intended to deny the right, as the employer’s motives are irrelevant.
Id.
If the employer interfered with the plaintiff’s FMLA rights, the employer
can escape liability by showing that it would have terminated the employee for
reasons unrelated to any FMLA leave. Parris v. Miami Herald Publ’g Co., 216
F.3d 1298, 1301 n.1 (11th Cir. 2000) (explaining that an employer that interferes
with employee’s FMLA right “bears the burden of proving that the employee
would have been laid off . . . for reasons unrelated to the [FMLA right]”). So, the
plaintiff must ultimately show that the request for FMLA leave was the proximate
cause of her termination. See Schaaf, 602 F.3d at 1242 (explaining that, for an
employer to be held liable for FMLA interference, the request for leave must have
been the proximate cause of the termination).
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Here, Benz alleges that she was denied her right to take leave in order to
care for her daughter who had a serious health condition, which is clearly a
substantive right under the FMLA. 29 U.S.C. § 2612(a)(1)(C). That Crowley fired
Benz before she could begin her FMLA leave does not foreclose Benz’s FMLA
interference claim. In Pereda v. Brookdale Senior Living Communities., Inc., the
defendant-employer terminated the plaintiff-employee before she could take her
requested maternity leave under the FMLA. 666 F.3d 1269, 1272 (11th Cir. 2012).
This Court reversed the district court’s dismissal of the plaintiff’s FMLA
interference claim, holding that a plaintiff can advance an FMLA interference
claim even if she was terminated before taking her leave—so long as she would
have been eligible to take FMLA leave when her leave was scheduled to begin.5
Id. at 1273-75.
Thus, what matters for Benz’s FMLA interference claim is why she was
terminated, not when she was terminated. See Krutzig, 602 F.3d at 1236
(explaining that an employer can terminate an employee before she takes FMLA
leave without violating her FMLA right to commence so long as “the employee
would have been dismissed regardless of any request for FMLA leave”). In other
words, the crux of the issue is whether Crowley terminated Benz for reasons
unrelated to her request for FMLA leave. Because we conclude that Benz has
5 Neither party disputes that Benz was eligible to take FMLA leave in February 2015.
23 Case: 16-17363 Date Filed: 04/27/2018 Page: 24 of 25
presented a triable issue as to whether Crowley fired her in retaliation for her
request for FMLA leave, we likewise conclude that there is a triable issue as to
whether Benz’s FMLA leave was the proximate cause of her termination, or
whether Crowley would have terminated Benz for reasons unrelated to her request
for FMLA leave. To put it simply, we cannot tell why Crowley terminated Benz
and deem it appropriate for a jury to resolve this factual dispute.
Thus, as with Benz’s FMLA retaliation claim, the district court erred when it
granted summary judgment to Crowley on Benz’s FMLA interference claim.
V. BENZ’S AGE AND GENDER DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS
Turning to Benz’s claims for age and gender discrimination, we agree with
the district court that Benz has adduced no evidence that Crowley fired her as a
result of age or gender bias. Thus, even assuming arguendo that Benz could make
out prima facie cases as to gender and age discrimination, she has failed to show
that Crowley’s proffered reason for terminating her was a pretext for unlawful
discrimination based on age or gender. Unlike her FMLA retaliation and
interference claims, Benz lacks circumstantial evidence that could create a triable
issue of fact as to whether she was terminated as a result of age or gender bias.
VI. CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the district court’s order granting
summary judgment to Crowley, except as to Benz’s FMLA retaliation and
24 Case: 16-17363 Date Filed: 04/27/2018 Page: 25 of 25
interference claims. As to these claims, we reverse the district court’s order and
remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED AND REMANDED IN PART.