A recent judgment in the United States District Court in Connecticut of over Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($502,402.05) illustrates the difficulties involved in defending retaliation claims. Summerlin v. Almost Family, Inc., 3:12-cv-00007-WWE. The judgment included liquidated (double) damages under the FMLA, interest, costs and attorneys’ fees.
Summerlin was a registered nurse. She received her nursing degree in 1977 and had over thirty years of professional nursing experience. Almost Family hired her in October of 2006 as a per diem nurse. In 2009, she accepted a full-time position with Almost Family as a registered nurse Behavioral Health Case Manager. She was responsible for, among other things, coordinating client care, completing documentation and recertifications, coordinating admissions to home care services, discharges, and transfers. She was assigned to manage clients located in Danbury, Brookfield, New Fairfield and Newtown, Connecticut.
In or about February of 2010, Summerlin fell on ice outside of a patient’s home, injuring her hip. In April of 2010, she aggravated her injury during a client-visit while picking up a leaded lockbox used to store medications. On or about April 8, 2010, she took leave from work and sought medical advice. On April 16, 2010, Almost Family sent Summerlin notice regarding the designation of her leave under the FMLA. She also received workers’ compensation benefits from April 8, 2010 through March 8, 2011. She was not able to return to work until February of 2011, when she was released to work on a light duty basis. Summerlin was released to return to work without restriction on March 8, 2011.
Summerlin’s job as a Behavioral Health Care Manager had been eliminated in a re-organization in August 2010 while she was out on leave. She had earned $111,531.43 during her last full year of full-time employment. In anticipation of returning to work, she applied for three positions in February 2011: 1) HHA Manager; 2) Behavioral Health Clinical Manager; and 3) Patient Care Liaison. She was not hired into any of these positions. On March 26, 2011, Almost Family rehired Summerlin as a per diem nurse. Later in 2011, Summerlin accepted work elsewhere and left Almost Family. Nonetheless, in December 2011, she applied for two more positions at Almost Family: as a Psych RN and as a Home Health Care RN. Almost Family hired other applicants for four of the positions and did not fill the fifth.