Post v. John F. Otto, Inc.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California granted John F. Otto, Inc.'s motion for summary judgment in full. The court held that the employer had decided to terminate Brett Post for legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons before he requested medical leave, defeating his FMLA, CFRA, and related wrongful-termination claims. The court also granted summary judgment on Post's age-discrimination claim because he had not shown satisfactory job performance or evidence supporting an inference of age discrimination.

Holdings

1. An employer defeats an FMLA or CFRA interference claim at summary judgment by showing that it would have terminated the employee regardless of the employee's leave request. Because Otto had already made the termination decision for legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons before Post requested leave, Post could not establish the required causal connection or harm.
2. FMLA and CFRA retaliation claims require opposition to an unlawful practice; merely requesting or taking leave is analyzed as interference rather than retaliation.
3. Summary judgment was proper on Post's generic claims alleging unspecified violations of the FMLA and CFRA because he cited no authority supporting such freestanding claims.
4. The FEHA wrongful-termination claim failed because Post agreed that its success stood or fell with his FMLA and CFRA claims, which failed on summary judgment.
5. Post could not establish a prima facie age-discrimination case because the undisputed record showed he was not performing his job satisfactorily when terminated.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Post's FMLA and CFRA interference claims survived summary judgment when Otto had undisputedly decided to terminate him for legitimate reasons before he requested leave.
2. Whether Post's FMLA and CFRA retaliation claims survived summary judgment when he did not oppose an allegedly unlawful practice or file a complaint before his termination.
3. Whether Post's FEHA wrongful-termination claim survived summary judgment.
4. Whether Post's FEHA age-discrimination claim survived summary judgment.

Disposition

other