By Reba Weiss and Harrison Owens
In Mesmer v. Charter Communications, Inc., a District Court in Washington found that a correspondence coordinator had claims of interference with his FMLA rights, failure to accommodate his PTSD, and sexual harassment under the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD). In his complaint, the coordinator claimed that he suffered from PTSD symptoms and his employer failed to accommodate his disability, subjected him to sexual harassment by a male coworker, and his employer willfully violated his FMLA rights by firing him for attempting to take medical leave. Learn more about harassment in the workplace from an employment lawyer. They can also define harassment in the workplace more clearly for you. The District Court found that the coordinator had stated sufficient facts to support his claims, and that his lawsuit should be heard at trial.
Gary Mesmer was employed by Charter Communications from October 10, 2005 until December 11, 2013 as a Correspondence Coordinator. Mesmer claimed that he suffered from PTSD with symptoms of anxiety, panic attacks, and heart palpitations during his employment. During his employment at Charter, a male co-worker made “numerous unwanted sexual advances” toward Mesmer. When Mesmer complained to his supervisor, April Moudy, he was told that he could not move work stations unless he could find someone to take his place. Mesmer claims this situation exacerbated his PTSD.
On November 30, 2011, Moudy allegedly told Mesmer that she did not appreciate having to be careful around him because of his PTSD. Later, Mesmer told Moudy’s supervisor that Moudy had denied his request for reasonable accommodation and had failed to protect him from sexual harassment, and that Mesmer would be seeking FMLA leave. Mesmer contacted the Human Resources Department and requested medical leave paperwork. However, he did not access or obtain the forms because of time constraints or an inability to locate them.
On December 5, 2011, Mesmer received a verbal warning regarding his attendance. Mesmer claimed that he had to take numerous breaks because of severe anxiety symptoms. Mesmer alleges that he notified his supervisor of his symptoms, but was not accommodated. Subsequently, Mesmer was accused of deliberately disconnecting 38 calls to shorten his call times, which he admitted but argued was due to his panic attacks. Mesmer was fired four days later at a meeting, which allegedly caused another panic attack. On October 23, 2014, Mesmer filed a complaint alleging discriminatory and retaliatory termination; FMLA interference; failure to accommodate; and sexual harassment.
The District Court first examined Mesmer’s claim of discrimination under the FMLA. Mesmer alleged that Charter willfully interfered with his ability to take FMLA leave by firing him before he could make a formal request. Although Mesmer admitted that he failed to access the FMLA forms, he only needed to provide notice of intent to take leave to his employer. The District Court found that Mesmer had shown sufficient evidence that he suffered from PTSD symptoms, had requested leave, and then was terminated soon after. These circumstances led the District Court to hold that Mesmer should be able to bring his FMLA interference claim to trial.
The District Court next evaluated Mesmer’s claim of failure to accommodate in violation of WLAD. Mesmer alleged that his PTSD substantially limited his ability to perform his job duties, and Charter refused his request for accommodation. The District Court found that Mesmer had sufficiently shown that his PTSD limited his ability to perform his job duties; Charter was aware of his PTSD; Mesmer required time off to perform his job duties; the sexual harassment of Mesmer had exacerbated his symptoms; and Charter failed to reasonably accommodate his PTSD after his request. The District Court found that these allegations were sufficient to support a claim of failure to accommodate in violation of WLAD, and allowed Mesmer to bring his claim to trial.
Finally, the District Court evaluated whether Mesmer had a valid claim for sexual discrimination under WLAD. Mesmer had filed several complaints with Charter, and Charter failed to take remedial measures. The District Court found that Mesmer had offered sufficient evidence to show a valid claim of sexual harassment, as he showed that he had notified Charter of the sexually harassing actions of his coworker and that Charter refused to remedy the situation.
In summary, the District Court found that Mesmer had shown sufficient evidence to support his claims of interference for his FMLA rights; failure to accommodate his PTSD; and sexual harassment in violation of WLAD. Therefore, the District Court refused to dismiss Mesmer’s claims and allowed him to bring them to trial.
Before a trial may proceed, the defendant employer almost always files a “motion for summary judgment.” This motion asks the judge to dismiss the plaintiff/employees claims because, the defense argues, the plaintiff cannot win because the evidence is insufficient to support his legal claims. Here, the judge refused to dismiss the plaintiff’s claims for interference with the FMLA, sexual harassment and failure to accommodate, because the plaintiff had produced enough evidence that the case could proceed to trial before a jury.
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