May/June 2003 Issue Number 47

Is a monthly electronic newsletter which links current events and issues to the daily challenges faced by fire and emergency services managers. Current topics in the areas of leadership development, workplace diversity, change management, and conflict resolution will be discussed.

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Consider This...

Fire-Rescue International , August 22-25, 2003, Dallas, Texas. Linda Willing will be presenting a workshop entitled "Stop "Putting Out Fires": A Prevention Approach to Workplace Conflict Management."

Just Kidding  

While driving a group of four lawyers to a restaurant, Kent Hall, the head of the St. Louis public defender's office, introduced a joke by saying, "I heard a great racist joke. You all don't mind if I tell it." And he proceeded to do so.  

Someone did mind, and one of the group later reported the incident. The aftermath of the episode led to the public defender's resignation.  

An overreaction? An attack of terminal political correctness? Not according to those who worked for Mr. Hall. Co-workers in the public defender's office said that the incident created significant credibility problems, especially considering the fact that more than 90% of their clients are black.  

J. Marty Robinson, head of the state's public defenders, stated that his office had fully investigated the matter, and that it recognized that "one of our managers made a statement that was appalling and inexcusable."  

Mr. Hall apologized to the person who made the complaint, but that was not the point. The issue was credibility and professionalism, not political correctness or personal affront. A person in a position of authority and leadership leads primarily by example. Purposefully telling what he himself acknowledged to be a "racist joke" undermined his credibility in his position, and his ability to be effective within it.  

Those who tell jokes at others' expense often excuse themselves by saying that they mean no harm; that they are "just kidding." Maybe the recognition of harm is not completely conscious, but how can someone say that something that is racist by nature is harmless? The demonstrated belief of this- through his actions- is what showed this person to be out of touch with the job he was charged to perform.  

Source: Associated Press, April 4, 2003     

A judge in New York has recently ruled that a gay spouse from a civil union can proceed with a wrongful death lawsuit against a hospital where his partner died as a result of medical complications after an accident. The couple's civil union was sanctioned by the state of Vermont. The judge stated that because common law spouses from other states were allowed to sue for wrongful death in New York, that legal same-sex partners should be afforded the same right.

Source: Associated Press, April 16, 2003  

 

Limits on the FMLA  

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) guarantees leave for the birth or adoption of a child, or the serious illness of a close family member. But this leave is not unconditional. Those who exercise their rights to family and medical leave can still lose their jobs for doing so, if they violate other conditions of their employment while on leave.  

Consider the case of Viengsamon Pharakhone, a production technician at an automobile plant. Mr. Pharakhone requested family leave from his employer prior to the birth of his child in January 1998. Mr. Pharakhone told his supervisor that the purpose of the leave would be to care for his wife and child, and assist with running his wife's restaurant in her absence. The leave was granted, but at some point (exactly when this conversation took place is disputed by the parties), Mr. Pharakhone was told by his supervisor that outside employment of any type during a period of family and medical leave was prohibited and could be cause for dismissal.  

Mr. Pharakhone worked at the restaurant despite this warning, saying he had no choice during his wife's recovery after childbirth. As a result, he was fired from his job, and he later sued, saying that his employer violated his rights under the FMLA.  

He lost his case and the subsequent appeal. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals stated, "The right to reinstatement under the FMLA is not absolute." They cited two cases that created exceptions for guaranteed reinstatement: a situation when an employee taking family/medical leave would have lost his job anyway (Kohls v. Beverly Enterprises Wisconsin Inc.) and a case where a uniformly applied policy governing outside or supplemental employment results in the employee's discharge (Sepe v. Mc Donnell Douglas Corp.).

The lesson here is clear: Don't make assumptions when using employment benefits. If you need to take leave from work for any reason, make sure you know the conditions, if any, of what you can do while on that leave. Doing so could mean the difference between seamless reinstatement in your previous position, and a fight that you could ultimately lose.  

Source: Viengsamon Pharakhnone v. Nissan North America Inc and Rodney Baggett, 6 th Circuit Court of Appeals, 01-5955

© Linda F. Willing, 2003