Yesterday, Magistrate Judge Tu M. Pham from the Western District of Tennessee issued a decision granting a plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment in a FMLA case. The name of the case is Green v. Third Party Solutions, Inc. and a copy of the decision can be accessed by clicking here. SJ Order. There are a couple of interesting points in the decision.

First, the court found that the defendant had interfered with the plaintiff’s FMLA rights thus finding in favor of the plaintiff on her FMLA interference claim. (SJ Order at 12-19). The court found that the defendant improperly terminated the plaintiff’s employment based on its belief that the plaintiff had not submitted a properly completed health care provider certification form regarding her FMLA leave request. Specifically, the court held that the FMLA certification form completed by the healthcare provider was sufficiently complete as a matter of law even though the form did not set forth an end duration date. As a result, the court held that the defendant illegally interferred with plaintiff’s FMLA rights.

Second, the court held that the defendant had waived its right to raise and rely on an after-acquired evidence defense, which would cut off the plaintiff’s damages if successful. The defendant argued that it discovered during litigation that the plaintiff had lied on her job application; therefore, plaintiff’s damages should be cut off as of the date it learned of plaintiff’s deception.

As an initial matter, the court agreed “with the majority of the courts and conclude[d] that the after-acquired evidence defense is an affirmative defense that must be pleaded under [FRCP] Rule 8(c).” (SJ Order at 26-27). The court next found that the defendant had not raised the after-acquired evidence defense in its answer waiting to first raise the matter in its motion for summary judgment. The court then held that the plaintiff would be prejudiced if it permitted the defendant to raise the defense after the close of discovery. Thus, the court determined that the defendant had waived its right to raise and rely on the after-acquired evidence defense.

Nice win for the plaintiff in this case.