Judge Was Not Amused By Supervisor’s Smiley Face Emoticon

An executive secretary at insurance company Munich Re in New Jersey took extended leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) citing her asthma condition.  The company became suspicious that the employee was not really too sick to work, and hired a private investigator to follow her and videotape her public activities.  The investigator captured the asthmatic employee on video shopping at a mall and carrying boxes as she moved into a new home.  When the company saw this video footage, it made the decision to fire the employee for abusing its FMLA leave policy.

The employee sued Munich Re for violating her federal right to take FMLA leave for her asthma condition, claiming that the real reason the company fired her was because it was perturbed that she needed to be out on medical leave from time to time.  In explaining the damaging videos, the employee said her doctor had ordered her to stay active while out on leave, which was why she felt she could go shopping and help with the house move.  ]

During the litigation, the employee’s lawyer requested internal company e-mails sent during the timeframe leading up to the employee’s termination.  In one such e-mail, which was sent the day the employee was fired, her supervisor began with a smiley face emoticon, and asked “:-)) did Ray chat with you about Elaina?”.  Another supervisor responded with, “Yes he did.  Thank you for your help.  That deserves a big :-))!!!”  

The employee argued that the smiley face emoticons in the supervisors’ e-mails showed that the supervisors were all too happy to get rid of her, and merely used the videos as a way to make that happen.  But the company moved to dismiss the case, claiming that the smiley faces in the e-mails were innocuous at best, and that the company had solid grounds to fire the employee for abusing FMLA leave.

A federal judge in Camden, New Jersey refused to dismiss the fired employee’s lawsuit against the company for FMLA retaliation.  In doing so, the judge specifically called out the smiley face emoticons in the e-mails sent between the supervisors on the day of termination, and found that a jury could conclude that Munich Re was happy to terminate the employee because the FMLA leave was inconvenient for them—which is unlawful.  

This case is a timely reminder for companies that snarky remarks and unprofessional digs, whether expressed verbally or obliquely by use of emoticons (or their more refined cousins the emoji—i.e., J), have no place in workplace communications dealing with company business. 

Posted by Declan Leonard, Managing Partner of Berenzweig Leonard, LLP, DLeonard@BerenzweigLaw.com

Telecommuting Employees Can Pose Certain Legal Risks For Employers

United Excel Corporation, a Kansas company in the hospital construction business, employed a sales representative to solicit business from hospitals throughout the country.  At some point, the sales representative asked to work out of his home, which was located in Massachusetts.  During the three years that he worked from his Massachusetts home for United Excel, the sales representative never closed any business with hospitals in that state.

After closing a big deal for a hospital located in California, the sales representative got into a dispute over how much commission was owed to him by United Excel.  He sued United Excel in a Massachusetts state court, but the company sought to dismiss the case on the ground that the Massachusetts court had no jurisdiction over the Kansas-based United Excel for a dispute involving a project in California.  From the company’s perspective, the sales representative could well have worked from a home office in Timbuktu, as long as he closed business with hospitals around the United States.  The mere fact that the representative happened to live in a small town in Massachusetts shouldn’t mean that the company could be sued in that town’s courts, United Excel argued.

But a federal appeals court in Massachusetts recently decided that the home office where the sales representative worked was akin to a remote sales office for United Excel.  The court noted that United Excel provided equipment for the sales representative’s home office, and it placed phone calls and sent emails to the sales representative in Massachusetts during his employment tenure. The court said the fact that the sales representative never actually closed a deal for a project located in Massachusetts was not at all determinative, and that his actions in soliciting business all across the country (including Massachusetts) from his home office was enough for that state’s court to have jurisdiction over the employment case.

The key missing ingredient in this case was the fact that United Excel did not have a forum selection clause in its employment agreement with the sales representative dictating where a lawsuit must be filed.  If the agreement had said all disputes must be brought in Kansas where United Excel was headquartered, the Massachusetts case would likely have been dismissed.  All companies, and particularly those who allow employees to work remotely or who otherwise employ people out of state, should strongly consider having a forum selection clause as well as a choice of law provision.

Posted by Declan Leonard, Managing Partner of Berenzweig Leonard, LLP, DLeonard@BerenzweigLaw.com