Pfizer Ordered to Pay for Employee Rights Violation

2009-03-17 14:55:19 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - Law, News)

Pfizer ordered to pay for FMLA violation

The drug manufacturing giant is ordered to pay thousands for a FMLA violation.

WiredPRNews – Pfizer has been ordered to pay a penalty for violating the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). As reported by Andrews Publications, the pharmaceutical company was ordered to pay $666,000 after firing an employee who took a leave from work to adopt a child.

The plaintiff in the case, James Dotson, filed suit after being fired from the company following making two trips to Russia to complete the adoption of his daughter in 2003. Dotson had worked for Pfizer for 15 years.

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals is quoted in the report as stating in regards to their ruling, “Pfizer’s legal argument would allow it to use its own failure to determine whether leave should be designated as FMLA-protected to block liability for retaliation… We decline to allow an employer to take advantage of its own lapse in such a way.”