From Seyfarth Shaw:
... Plaintiff’s son, who suffers from a permanent and debilitating neurological condition, was hospitalized for four months in 2013. As an employee of Atlas Industries, Inc., plaintiff participated in a group medical plan that covered his son’s medical expenses. Atlas’s plan was partially self-insured, and the company paid approximately $250,000 for the son’s care.
Seven months later, plaintiff did not call Atlas or report to work for three consecutive days after he had been released to work following a medical leave. Atlas’s handbook provided that any employee absent for three consecutive days without permission would be automatically fired. After plaintiff’s third no-call/no-show day, his supervisor fired him.
Plaintiff sued, alleging that the company had fired him because of his son’s medical expenses, and thus that the company was liable for both retaliation and interference under ERISA. In support, plaintiff pointed to evidence that (1) Atlas had expressed concerns about “skyrocket[ing]” medical costs in employee notices; (2) an Atlas Vice President had told him in 2013 that he hoped his son would be released soon because the medical costs were getting expensive for the company; and (3) an Atlas human resources director showed another employee the son’s medical expenses and said that large payments were causing the company’s health insurance costs to rise.
While the district court entered summary judgment for Atlas, the Sixth Circuit reversed, finding that there was enough evidence of interference or retaliation to deny summary judgment. Specifically, while the supervisor who fired plaintiff did not know about the son’s medical expenses, the Sixth Circuit found significant that the Vice President and director who commented about medical expenses played a role in the decision. Also, plaintiff contended that Atlas had tried to contact other employees before firing them under the no-call/no-show policy, but did not do the same for him. ...
