By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//December 1, 2014//
U.S. Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit
Civil
Employment – FMLA — race discrimination
Where an employee was not meeting her employer’s reasonable expectations, summary judgment was properly granted to her employer on her FMLA, race discrimination, and retaliation claims.
“We now affirm the district court’s judgment. Ms. Taylor- Novotny cannot succeed on her ADA discrimination claim because she did not establish that she was disabled within the meaning of the ADA and because she was not meeting Health Alliance’s legitimate expectations for punctuality and accountability. Her failure to meet Health Alliance’s legitimate expectations also forecloses her race discrimination claim. She cannot succeed on her ADA failure-to-accommodate claim because she did not establish that the additional accommodation that she sought from Health Alliance was reasonable. Further, the evidence that she offers for her ADA retaliation claim is insufficient to form a convincing mosaic suggesting that Health Alliance retaliated against her because she sought accommodations for her multiple sclerosis. Finally, her FMLA interference claim must fail because Health Alliance never denied Ms. Taylor-Novotny FMLA leave.”
Affirmed.
13-3652 Taylor-Novotny v. Health Alliance Medical Plans
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Shadid, J., Ripple, J.