Fired by Text During FMLA Leave: RIF and FMLA Compliance Lessons From a Charter School Lawsuit
Three days into her medical leave, a teacher's phone buzzed. It was a coworker: "Sorry for what happened."
She didn't know what had happened. Then more texts came in from other coworkers. They already knew what she didn't: she had been fired. A supervisor eventually confirmed it, also by text. Later that day, a formal letter arrived saying her employment would "end effective immediately due to the recent reduction in force."
That's the core of a recent federal lawsuit against a Louisiana public charter school network with multiple campuses. The facts below are allegations from the teacher's complaint and haven't been proven.
How an Employee Was Laid Off Three Days Into FMLA Leave
The teacher had worked full-time at the school for three years without notable issues. She was being treated for anxiety and depression, and her condition had already required some time off.
In September 2024, she told the principal and administrative staff she needed medical leave for about two weeks in October. She asked what she needed to submit to get the leave approved. According to the complaint, she was told the school had no FMLA form. Instead, she should bring a letter from her psychiatrist. She did, and the letter excused her from work for two weeks.
Her leave began on a Monday. By Thursday, she was out of a job, and her coworkers knew before she did.
She found a new teaching job about two months later, at substantially lower pay. She filed suit under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) almost exactly two years after her termination, just inside the FMLA's two-year statute of limitations.
Is a reduction in force on your calendar while an employee is on leave? A layoff during FMLA leave is one of the most scrutinized decisions an employer can make. Read Can I Fire Someone Who Just Came Back From FMLA Leave? before you act.
The FMLA Claim: Can You Lay Off an Employee During FMLA Leave?
The complaint brings a single claim under the FMLA. It alleges the school violated the teacher's right to be restored to her position, or an equivalent one, at the end of her leave (29 U.S.C. § 2614(a)(1)), and her right not to lose employment benefits because she took leave (§ 2614(a)(2)).
The school's stated reason is a reduction in force (RIF), and that's a legitimate defense in principle. An employee on FMLA leave has no greater right to her job than if she had kept working. If her position would have been eliminated anyway, the employer doesn't have to keep it open for her.
But the FMLA puts the burden on the employer. Under 29 C.F.R. § 825.216(a)(1), the employer must prove the employee would have been laid off even if she hadn't been on leave. That means showing:
a genuine business reason for the reduction, such as lower enrollment or a budget shortfall
objective criteria for choosing which positions or employees were cut
that those criteria were applied consistently, and that the leave played no role
A mid-semester layoff that reached a teacher three days into her medical leave will draw close scrutiny. The school may point to enrollment: Louisiana's school funding formula relies in part on an October 1 student count, so a fall staffing cut isn't unheard of. But the school will need documents showing when the RIF was planned, who else was affected, and why this teacher was chosen.
What FMLA Damages Are Available, and What the Complaint Leaves Out
The lawsuit doesn't bring a separate FMLA retaliation claim, or any claim under Louisiana's Employment Discrimination Law, which covers disability discrimination by employers with 20 or more employees. It does seek damages for emotional distress and humiliation, but the FMLA doesn't allow those. FMLA damages are limited to lost wages and benefits, interest, an equal amount in liquidated damages unless the employer proves good faith, equitable relief, and attorney's fees. Here, lost wages are reduced by what she has earned at her new job.
Planning a layoff? Every employee on leave, recently returned from leave, or with a pending accommodation request needs a separate review before the list is final. Our HR compliance consulting helps employers document RIF criteria that’s defensible.
No FMLA Form? Why Accepting a Doctor's Note Signals FMLA Notice Violations
To an experienced HR professional, one detail in this complaint stands out: when the teacher asked how to request leave, she was told the school had no FMLA form and that a doctor's note would do.
The FMLA doesn't require employers to use a specific form. Employers can use the Department of Labor's model certification (Form WH-380-E) or their own version. But a school with more than 50 employees and no FMLA process at all suggests something bigger: the employer may not have been meeting the FMLA's notice requirements, which are where much of FMLA compliance happens.
Under 29 C.F.R. § 825.300, a covered employer must:
Post a general FMLA notice and include FMLA information in its handbook, or give it to new employees in writing.
Send an eligibility notice within five business days after the employee requests leave or the employer learns the employee has an FMLA-qualifying condition, telling her whether she's eligible.
Provide a rights and responsibilities notice explaining what's expected of her, including certification requirements, and her right to job restoration.
Send a designation notice within five business days after getting enough information, telling her the leave is FMLA-protected and how much of her 12 weeks it will use.
A doctor's note stating "please excuse her from work for two weeks" doesn't establish whether the employee has a serious health condition, doesn't trigger a designation, and doesn't tell anyone how much FMLA leave has been used. When an employer accepts a note and moves on, it usually means none of the required notices went out.
That matters for two reasons. First, failing to give required notices can itself be interference when it harms the employee, for example if she would have planned her leave differently. Second, it signals to a court, and a jury, that the employer wasn't paying attention to the FMLA at all. That makes it much harder to argue that a layoff three days into her leave had nothing to do with it.
The complaint also notes that her condition had required time off on other occasions. Without an FMLA process, those absences may never have been evaluated as possible intermittent leave either.
Does your organization have an FMLA process, or just a doctor's-note policy? If you can't produce your eligibility, rights and responsibilities, and designation notices for every leave this year, you have a compliance gap. See how our FMLA compliance outsourcing works, or read Thinking of Outsourcing Your FMLA and ADA Administration?
How to Make a Reduction in Force (RIF) Legally Defensible
The complaint argues that layoffs get close scrutiny for notice, timing, pretext, and whether the employer followed its own RIF guidelines. The teacher says she was never told the basis for the RIF or shown the school's policy.
In Louisiana, traditional public school boards must follow a statutory RIF process based on performance ratings, with a right to written review (La. R.S. 17:81.4). Charter schools are largely exempt from that statute (La. R.S. 17:3996), which puts them in the same position as most private employers: no state law dictating how to choose whom to lay off.
No required procedure doesn't mean no risk. The FMLA, ADA, Title VII, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act apply to every layoff, and the employer will have to explain its choices. Any employer planning a RIF should:
Document the business reason first, before anyone is selected.
Use objective, job-related selection criteria, such as performance ratings, certifications, or which roles are no longer needed, and apply them consistently.
Review the list before it's final for employees on leave, with pending accommodation requests, with recent complaints, or in protected groups.
Follow your own policy, or adopt one. Courts compare what you did to what your handbook says. With no policy, every selection looks subjective.
Tell affected employees the basis for the decision, and give them a way to ask questions.
Larger employers should also check federal and state WARN Act notice requirements, and releases offered in group layoffs must meet the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act's disclosure rules for employees 40 and over.
Charter School Records Are Subject to Public Records Requests
Louisiana charter schools are generally subject to the state's public records and open meetings laws, so board minutes and many school records can be requested by anyone, including a former employee's attorney. In this case, public board minutes from the month after the layoff attribute the staffing changes to decreased enrollment, in the same presentation that announced three new central-office positions. The school will say those are different roles. The plaintiff will ask whether this was a true reduction in force or a reorganization, and why she was the one selected.
The same minutes show the board approved an updated employee handbook about three weeks before her leave began. Whether that handbook includes an FMLA policy or a RIF procedure, and whether the school followed it, will likely become central questions in the case.
Running a charter school or other organization exempt from public employment rules? Exemption from state procedures doesn't mean exemption from lawsuits. An outsourced CHRO can build RIF, leave, and discipline policies that help protect employers in lawsuits.
Never Blindside an Employee: How Termination by Text Leads to Lawsuits
Whatever the legal merits of this case, one part of it was entirely avoidable. The teacher learned she'd been fired from coworkers' texts, while she was on medical leave for anxiety and depression. Her colleagues were already talking about it before anyone from the school told her.
Learning about your own termination secondhand is humiliating. It's also one of the fastest ways to turn a former employee into a plaintiff. When an employee is blindsided:
She doubts the stated reason. If the school had a legitimate RIF, why did everyone know before she did? Secrecy makes even a real business reason look like a cover story.
She feels singled out. Being told last, while on leave, feels personal, and people who feel targeted look for an explanation. Her medical leave is the obvious one.
She has no one to ask. Without a conversation, there's no chance to explain the reason, answer questions, or discuss severance or rehire options. The first person who explains her rights may be a plaintiff's attorney.
The story writes itself. "I found out from a coworker's text three days into my medical leave" is a sentence juries understand immediately.
Many employment lawsuits start not because of the decision itself, but because of how it was delivered. Employees who are treated with respect during a termination are far less likely to sue, even when they disagree with the decision.
How to Tell an Employee She's Being Laid Off: 5 Steps
Tell the employee first, directly. No one else should know before she does, beyond the people who need to. Limit who has access to RIF lists until notifications are complete.
Do it live. A phone or video call is the minimum, and a text message is never appropriate. For an employee on leave, HR should reach out personally and explain the decision.
Explain the reason clearly and consistently. For a RIF, describe the business reason and the selection criteria. The explanation should match what's in the file.
Have the paperwork ready. Final pay, benefits continuation, unused leave, and any severance or release should be explained in the same conversation and confirmed in writing.
Control internal communications. Tell the remaining staff only after affected employees have been notified, and give managers a short, consistent script.
Need to deliver a difficult termination or layoff? Get a second set of eyes on the timing, the reason, and the conversation before it happens. Read Why Termination Letters Matter, Even for At-Will Employers, or contact us confidentially.
FAQ: Layoffs During FMLA Leave, FMLA Notices, and School RIFs
Can an employer lay off an employee who is on FMLA leave?
Yes, but only if the employee would have been laid off even if she hadn't taken leave. Under 29 C.F.R. § 825.216, the employer bears the burden of proving that, typically with documentation of the business reason, the selection criteria, and when the decision was made.
Does the FMLA require employers to use a specific form?
No. Employers can use the Department of Labor's model forms or their own. But employers must give eligibility, rights and responsibilities, and designation notices within required time frames. Accepting a doctor's note without that process usually means those notices were never sent.
Can a doctor's note qualify as notice of FMLA leave?
Yes. An employee doesn't have to mention the FMLA by name. Once an employer learns that leave may be for an FMLA-qualifying reason, it's responsible for following up, requesting certification if it wants one, and sending the required notices.
Can a teacher on FMLA leave recover emotional distress damages?
Not under the FMLA. Its remedies are limited to lost wages and benefits, interest, liquidated damages, equitable relief such as reinstatement or front pay, and attorney's fees. Emotional distress damages may be available under other laws, such as state disability discrimination statutes.
What's the best way to tell an employee she's been laid off?
Directly, privately, and before anyone else knows. Use a live conversation, never a text, explain the reason and the criteria, and have final pay and benefits information ready. For an employee on leave, HR should handle the conversation personally.
Get Outsourced HR Help Before Your Next Layoff or Leave Decision
Layoffs, leave, and terminations are where small process failures become federal lawsuits. CHRO, LLC helps schools, nonprofits, and growing employers build FMLA compliance processes, defensible RIF and termination procedures, and manager training that prevent them.
Schedule a confidential consultation before your next leave decision or reduction in force.
This post is for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. The facts described are allegations from the plaintiff's complaint and have not been proven.
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