U.S. District Court denies Town of Westport’s motion to dismiss pregnant teacher’s FMLA claims
In this widely reported case handled by Lucas and Varga LLC, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut denied the Westport Board of Education’s motion to dismiss the FMLA claims of a tenured teacher who was dismissed shortly after informing her principal that she might need limited time off to recuperate from a spinal injury incurred during childbirth. The Court emphasized that employees who take maternity leave are entitled to return to their position upon termination of leave, or an equivalent position. An “equivalent position” under the FMLA must be “virtually identical” to the original position in several different ways analyzed in the opinion.
