The workplace is governed by myriad laws and regulations, most of which only impose liability on employers, not on individual supervisors and managers. That’s not true of the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows for liability to be claimed against the employer and manager in his/her individual capacity.
In the recent case of Ziccarelli v. Dart, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit had to decide whether the FMLA can be violated by a manager simply discouraging an employee from requesting FMLA leave, even if the employer does not ultimately deny the request. On June 1, the 7th Circuit ruled this kind of managerial activity can amount to an FMLA violation.
