E-Alerts

Faith-Healing Vacation Not Covered Under FMLA, Rules First Circuit

An employee who was fired for taking an unauthorized leave of absence to accompany her medically ill husband on a faith-healing vacation had no recourse against her employer under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (the “FMLA”), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently ruled.

The overall purpose of the employee’s leave was to accompany her husband on a personal vacation, not to enable him to obtain medical care, explained the First Circuit.  The fact that the employee provided actual care to her husband as an “incidental consequence” of the vacation did not render the vacation an FMLA-covered event.  Accordingly, termination of employment was warranted when the employee took the vacation over her employer’s objection.

The decision confirms that FMLA leave is to be used only in connection with FMLA-covered purposes — which do not include enabling a seriously ill family member to travel for personal reasons unrelated to medical treatment — and that employees take serious risks by going on unauthorized leaves.

Factual Background

The plaintiff, Maria Tayag (“Tayag”), was a Health Information Clerk at Lahey Clinic Hospital (“Lahey”).  Throughout her employment, Tayag routinely took authorized intermittent FMLA leaves of absence to take her husband (who had numerous chronic medical conditions) to doctor’s appointments and to help him with household activities.

In June 2006, Tayag requested seven weeks of vacation time, which Lahey did not approve.  The following month, Tayag again requested seven weeks off, this time claiming that she was requesting a leave of absence under the FMLA in order to care for her husband, who was recovering from a recent heart surgery.

As the medical documentation Lahey had on file did not support Tayag’s request, Tayag’s supervisor asked Tayag to provide new FMLA medical certification.  Tayag provided medical certification from her husband’s primary care physician, but it did not support Tayag’s leave request.  When Lahey requested additional medical certification, Tayag failed to provide it.

As a result of Tayag’s failure to provide sufficient medical certification, Lahey denied Tayag’s request for FMLA leave.  Nevertheless, Tayag and her husband left for the Philippines, where they remained for seven weeks.

While the Tayags were in the Philippines, Lahey received additional medical certification from Tayag’s husband’s cardiologist.  This new information confirmed that Tayag’s husband did, in fact, have serious health conditions but did not indicate that Tayag needed to take seven weeks off in order to provide necessary medical care.  After making numerous unsuccessful attempts to contact Tayag, Lahey terminated Tayag’s employment based on her unapproved leave.

Significantly, Tayag’s husband did not receive traditional medical treatment or visit a health care professional at any point during the trip to the Philippines.  Instead, Tayag’s husband sought “miraculous healing” at the Pilgrimage of Healing Ministry at St. Bartholomew Parish for approximately half of the trip.  The rest of the trip was spent visiting friends and family.  However, because of her husband’s serious medical ailments, at all times during the seven-week trip, Tayag carried her husband’s bags, pushed his wheelchair, provided psychological support, and administered his medication.

First Circuit’s Decision

Following Lahey’s termination of her employment, Tayag filed suit against Lahey, claiming, among other things, that Lahey unlawfully interfered with her rights under the FMLA.  Tayag claimed that her husband’s pilgrimage treated the psychological aspect of his medical condition, and that he could not travel without her assistance.

Lahey countered that Tayag was not eligible for FMLA leave in connection with her travel to the Philippines, as her husband sought “miraculous healing” as opposed to medical treatment.  Further, Lahey contended, nearly half of Tayag’s trip was spent simply vacationing, which it claimed was not a covered FMLA purpose.

The trial court dismissed Tayag’s case on summary judgment, and Tayag appealed, presenting the First Circuit with the novel issue of whether an employee may take FMLA leave to care for a spouse with a serious health condition who seeks to travel abroad for the purpose of faith-based healing.

The First Circuit found that Tayag’s husband did, in fact, suffer from serious chronic health conditions, but that the leave was not in furtherance of seeking medical treatment and therefore had been appropriately denied.  Concluding that the purpose of the trip was to go on vacation, not to seek medical care, the First Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Tayag’s case on summary judgment.  In reaching this conclusion, the Court reasoned as follows:  “Even if caring for a sick spouse on a trip for faith-healing were protected because of its potential psychological benefits, it is undisputed that nearly half of the Tayags’ trip was spent visiting friends, family, and local churches.  The FMLA does not permit employees to take time off to take a vacation with a seriously ill spouse, even if caring for the spouse is an ‘incidental consequence’ of taking him on vacation.”

In making this ruling, the First Circuit left open the question of what types of faith-healing, psychological treatment, or other alternatives might support such a leave request if (a) medical certifications supported the request, and (b) substantially all of the trip would be spent in pursuit of such care.

Recommendations For Employers

Tayag illustrates how complicated FMLA requirements can be, particularly if an employee requests leave to assist a family member in obtaining medical care.  Employers should proceed cautiously when confronted with such leave requests by, among other things, obtaining all necessary medical certifications and determining whether the request has a significant non-medical component.

Additionally, to minimize the risk of generally running afoul of the FMLA, we recommend that employers take the following steps:

• Revise, as necessary, their FMLA policies and/or managers’ guides to ensure that they are accurate and up-to-date;
• Train managers and human resources staff about the rights and obligations under the FMLA; and
• Confer with employment counsel as to any leave request that is unusual or raises difficult questions.

The Firm offers an FMLA Compliance Package that includes all required FMLA forms, tailored to each employer’s specific policies and practices.  In addition, the Firm offers a three-hour “Nuts and Bolts of Compliance with the Amended FMLA” seminar that covers all aspects of the FMLA.  If you are interested in attending this seminar, please see the brochure and registration form on the Firm’s website.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have about the Tayag decision or FMLA compliance in general.