In a recent decision, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held that individual defendants may be held liable for violating the Family Medical and Leave Act (FMLA).

In Narodetsky v. Cardone Industries, Inc., the plaintiff requested FMLA time to undergo surgery.  The next day, the defendants conducted a forensic search of plaintiff’s computer.  A couple of weeks later, the plaintiff was terminated for allegedly forwarding a pornographic e-mail to a co-worker.  Plaintiff filed suit against the company and various individuals, including the President/CEO and managers involved in his termination, alleging that his termination was pretextual and that the defendants violated his rights under the FMLA.  The individual defendants filed a motion to dismiss the case against them, asserting that plaintiff had failed to plead sufficient facts to establish that the individual defendants were "employers" as that term is defined under the FMLA.

The FMLA defines "employer" in relevant part as "any person who acts, directly or indirectly, in the interest of an employer to any of the employees of such employer”.  Although the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has never held that individual defendants may be liable under the FMLA, the FMLA-implementing regulations state that individuals such as corporate officers would be individually liable for violations of the FMLA.

The federal district court initially found that “a person who has the authority to hire and fire may be considered an employer”.  Ultimately finding that the individual defendants were liable under the FMLA, the Court held that the allegations supported an inference that each of the defendants exercised control over plaintiff in the decision to terminate him. Specifically, the Court opined that the President/CEO was a corporate officer with operational control over the company and was therefore an employer along with the corporation. The Court also found the other managers to have authority to fire employees because the plaintiff alleged that they terminated him. 

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