SHERMAN – A Dallas employer is alleged to have interfered with a former employee's rights to medical leave before terminating her earlier this year.
Gina Thompson filed a complaint on May 13 in the Sherman Division of the Eastern District of Texas against National Express LLC, doing business as Durham School Services LLC, and Shawnta Lang alleging violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act.
The suit states the plaintiff was employed by Durham School Services from August 2010 until July 2015 and then again from May 2017 to May 2019 as an office manager. The plaintiff alleges she handled payroll, billing office administration and dispatcher duties.
The plaintiff alleges she was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis on May 2017 and requested intermittent leave in January to address flare-ups. She alleges her supervisor, Lang, denied her leave despite the plaintiff having provided a physician's certificate. The plaintiff was terminated on March 1, the suit states.
The plaintiff alleges the defendant interfered with her right to take a medical leave under the FMLA and that her termination was a denial of leave.
The plaintiff is seeking a trial by jury, lost compensation and benefits, interest, attorneys' fees and costs, trial by jury and other relief deemed fit. The plaintiff is represented by Robert E. Goodman Jr. of Kilgore & Kilgore PLLC in Dallas.
Sherman Division of the Eastern District of Texas case number 4:19-CV-00349