Supreme Court Won’t Hear United Airlines Employee’s Claim She Was Fired for Taking Family-Medical Leave
The Supreme Court refused to take up the appeal of a former United Airlines employee who claims she was unlawfully dismissed for taking time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
The court denied the petition for review in Parker v. United Airlines, court file 22-817, in an unsigned order on April 3. No justices dissented from the order and no reasons were provided for dismissing the petition.
The ruling leaves in place a September 2022 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, which upheld a federal district court decision in favor of the airline.
Jeannie Parker was a “top-performing customer service representative for United Airlines” for 26 years who earned positive customer reviews, according to her petition (pdf). In 2018, she worked as a Lead Remote Reservations Sales and Services Representative, handling issues like reservations, ticketing, seat assignments, and check-ins. That year, Parker also took “significant periods of FMLA leave—all approved by United—to tend to her own chronic health condition and to care for her terminally ill father.”…