The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a decision from the Southern District of West Virginia reinforcing that indefinite unpaid leave is not a reasonable accommodation that employers must provide. The Coffman v. Nexstar Media Inc. opinion provides helpful support for employers navigating the murky waters of Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) protections, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) use and exhaustion, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) reasonable accommodations.
The Facts
Leanna Coffman worked as an Account Executive at Nexstar’s news station for about a year before she became pregnant with twins in 2021. Near the end of her pregnancy, Coffman was diagnosed with placenta previa and placed on bedrest. Nexstar approved Coffman’s request to work remotely for roughly eight weeks before she delivered via c-section in February 2022. Following the delivery, Coffman immediately commenced her 12 weeks of FMLA leave.
Within a few days, Coffman began experiencing complications from her c-section requiring surgery. During her recovery period, Coffman was given a nephrostomy bag, which caused severe pain and restricted her ability to stand, walk, and drive. In early April, Nexstar first inquired about Coffman’s recovery. Coffman explained that she was in and out of the hospital with infections and pain, and although she had exhausted about half of her FMLA leave, she would need to have another surgery.
By June 28, Nexstar still had not received a doctor’s return-to-work approval for Coffman. When Nexstar’s Human Resource department inquired, Coffman confirmed that she was still recovering and unable to return to work. On July 28, Nexstar sent Coffman a letter again requesting her return-to-work date and outlining her FMLA exhaustion and continuous leave for five months. Coffman responded on August 4 stating she was still under intense care and had another surgery scheduled for August 8. Coffman explained the recovery time for this surgery would be about four-to-six weeks followed by another potential surgery in October.
On August 15, Nexstar terminated Coffman noting their inability to hold her critical position open any longer. Shortly thereafter, Coffman filed her lawsuit alleging three counts under the West Virginia Human Rights Act (WVHRA): (1) failure to accommodate; (2) discriminatory discharge; and (3) retaliatory discharge, in addition to a (4) FMLA retaliatory discharge claim.
The Analysis
The Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for Nexstar on each claim.
Relying heavily on ADA case law (noted to be “instructive” since “the rights under the ADA and the WVHRA are coextensive”), the Court explained that reasonable accommodations are accommodations that either presently, or in the immediate future, enable an employee to perform the essential functions of the job. Importantly in this case, Coffman could only mention a possible return date in September or October at the time of her termination, following more than five months of leave. The Court affirmed that Nextstar was under no obligation to wait an indefinite period for Coffman to recover and return to work, and therefore, did not fail to accommodate her.
Regarding Coffman’s state discriminatory discharge claim, the Court confirmed that Coffman failed to demonstrate that any reasonable accommodation existed at the time of her discharge that would render her a “qualified individual with a disability” – a necessary element for the claim. Nor did Coffman establish that her unreasonable request for accommodation was sufficient “protected activity” to survive summary judgment on her retaliatory discharge claim.
The Court of Appeals also agreed with the district court as to the FMLA retaliation claim’s failure because Nexstar granted Coffman an additional 12 weeks of leave after her 12 weeks of protected FMLA leave expired in May 2022. The Court affirmed that this additional grant and the lapse of time from her protected leave sufficiently undermined any causal inference of retaliation.
The Takeaways
The Coffman opinion is instructive and reaffirms that, while employers may need to provide ADA (or analogous state law) leave as an accommodation following FMLA exhaustion, indefinitely continuing leave is unreasonable. However, the time at which unpaid leave may transition from reasonable to unreasonable is fact-intensive requiring careful analysis. The experienced counsel at Poyner Spruill can provide legal assistance when evaluating such requests under the ADA, and other leave requests under the FMLA or PWFA.
