In Judge v. Landscape Forms one former employee posed the question: Does an employee have to specifically ask for additional leave once Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave is exhausted, in order to receive it?

Mark Judge took his FMLA leave after a shoulder surgery that stemmed from a non-work injury. Judge informed his employer, Landscape Forms, that the recovery period was expected to be about four to six months long.  Once Judge’s 12 weeks of FMLA leave expired, he did not let his company know about his expected return date.  He also did not specifically ask for any additional leave time as accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 

Based on a conversation he had with a benefits specialist for the company, Judge was eventually fired.  The work benefits specialist informed Judge that Landscape Forms decided it “couldn’t accommodate his existing restrictions, could not leave his position open indefinitely and needed to maintain appropriate staffing levels.” At this point, Judge filed an ADA lawsuit, claiming that the company should have accommodated his disability by granting him a leave of absence.

In this particular case, the court was in favor of the company ruling that it had zero obligations to accommodate this employee.  The court cited the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations regarding the ADA.  Essentially, the court ruled that unless an employee makes a specific request for additional leave as an accommodation, employers never have to grant it.  Unfortunately, this type of ruling is truly a case-by-case basis.  Many other courts have sided with the employee saying that employers need to be all but clairvoyant when it comes to extended leave.