You Might Be Entitled to Medical Leave Even if Your Employer Says You’re Out of Time Off: Takeaways from Our Client and a Class of Similarly Situated Employees’ $750,000 Settlement Against 1st Franklin Financial Corporation

Earlier this year, 1st Franklin Financial Corporation agreed to settle claims that it systemically discriminated against a class of individuals by failing to provide leave as an accommodation for their disabilities under the ADA. As part of this settlement, 1st Franklin agreed to pay $750,000 and to undertake a number of intensive remedial measures designed to correct its unlawful practices.1 Our client was the lead member in this class and received his entire backpay award plus an additional amount for alleged emotional distress and other damages, totaling $250,000. This case serves as an important reminder for disabled employees that an employer’s obligation to provide medical leave doesn’t always end when PTO runs out.

Our Client’s Case

In 2023, our client was admitted to the hospital after suffering two major heart attacks. His doctors informed him that he would be released in 10-14 days, at which time he could return to his job at 1st Franklin Financial Corporation (“1FFC”). Our client alleged that he communicated to 1FFC that he would be released from the hospital within two weeks, asking that he be allowed to return to his job immediately after. He further alleged that 1FFC informed him that his requested accommodation “won’t do” and told him that if he could not return before his company-allotted leave expired, he would be fired. Sure enough, after he was released, which was earlier than expected, he alleged that 1FFC told him that he had already been fired, despite needing just one additional day of leave in order to have returned to work. We represented him in his claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (the “ADA”) related to his termination which led to systemic claims being pursued on behalf of other individuals.

In connection with our client’s claims that involved an alleged systemic policy of denying leave as an accommodation, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission2 (the “EEOC”) investigated and found other aggrieved individuals. 1FFC recently agreed to settle the claims brought against it. As part of the settlement, 1FFC agreed to a number of terms that included monetary payments as well as other remedial measures designed to correct its discriminatory practices. In particular, 1FFC agreed to pay $750,000 to aggrieved former employees that included a $250,000 payment to our client. It also agreed, among other things, to provide trainings to its managerial and HR employees on accommodations under the ADA, to revise its employee handbook to “clarify that… additional leave when other types of leave expire, may be a reasonable accommodation,” and to notify the EEOC each time it denies an employee’s request for disability accommodation over the next three years.3

The Law Behind Medical Leave

In our employment law practice, we most often deal with two laws that concern employee medical leave: the ADA and the Family Medical Leave Act, or FMLA. Here, we focus on the often-misunderstood connection between these two laws.

The FMLA provides qualified employees with 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave every twelve months for their own or a family member’s serious health condition. To be eligible, an employee must have worked for their employer for at least 12 months and 1,250 hours over that stretch. Other qualification requirements apply to the employer as well. Read more here: https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/benefits-leave/fmla.

But what happens if an employee runs out of FMLA or is not eligible? Many employers wrongly believe that means the employee is not legally entitled to any additional leave. In fact, some employers, even large ones, may maintain policies that no additional leave will be provided beyond FMLA, PTO, or vacation. That, however, is not true, at least not in all cases. Here comes the ADA.

The ADA prohibits discrimination against disabled employees in the same way that Title VII prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics like race or gender, with one notable extra affirmative duty imposed on employers: under the ADA, employers have an affirmative duty to make reasonable accommodations for disabled employees that enable them to perform the essential functions of their jobs.4 It’s important to remember that the accommodation must be reasonable. And that is just where things can get complicated. What is reasonable? There is not always a one-size-fits-all solution, and people disagree about what they think is reasonable. Each case is different, but some examples of reasonable accommodations include providing accessible office space for employees who use wheelchairs, shifting working hours for employees whose visual impairments make driving in the dark difficult, or allowing service animals at the office.

Importantly, leave from work can also be reasonable disability accommodation, even if an employee doesn’t qualify for FMLA, has run out of employer-allotted time off, like sick leave, vacation, or personal time. Is this always the case? No. For example, if the leave won’t help an employee eventually return to work, it’s not reasonable accommodation because it will not enable the employee to actually return and perform the essential functions of the job. And if the medical leave would place an “undue burden” on an employer’s business, it is not reasonable. (Think like this: a key employee’s request for an extended leave during a company’s busiest season is a lot less likely to be reasonable.) Additionally, in the Eleventh Circuit, requests for indefinite leave are per se unreasonable, meaning that it doesn’t matter how long an employee actually needs for leave, if they don’t specific a specific amount of time when making the request, the employer doesn’t have to grant it.5

What Should You Do if You’re Disabled and in Need of Medical Leave?

CALL the McCABE LAW FIRM! But seriously, each case is different, and the law in this area can get complicated quickly, so it’s always best to consult with a lawyer if you are a disabled employee seeking leave as a reasonable accommodation and are unsure of your rights and responsibilities. In general, however, here are some baseline principles that pertain to this situation:

  • Under the ADA, qualified employees with disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations that permit them to perform the essential functions of their jobs.
  • In some cases, where a leave from work will allow an employee to perform the essential functions of their position, such leave can function as an accommodation, provided that it is reasonable. That is the case even if you are out of FMLA or PTO.
  • If an employee makes a request for an accommodation that is protected by the ADA, it is unlawful for an employer to retaliate against you for that reason, but that does not mean it won’t happen.
  • If you make a request for leave, make sure you specify that it is for a medical condition that constitutes a disability under the ADA. You have to tell your employer this! You can’t just say that you need leave because you are sick or your doctor said so.
  • If you make a request for leave as an accommodation for your disability, make sure that it is for a definite period of time (e.g., a specific number of days) and not indefinite (e.g., “when my doctor clears me,” or “when I feel better.”). It is very important that you tell your doctor this!

This is not everything you need to know or need to include in your requests. These are just some points that we have seen recur. Once again, it is always better to consult with a lawyer before making any decisions if you’re unsure of how they might affect your rights under the ADA (or any other employment law, for that matter).

  1. 1st Franklin Financial Corporation’s agreement to resolve this matter on such terms does not constitute an admission of liability. ↩︎
  2. The EEOC is a federal agency tasked with enforcing the nation’s anti-discrimination laws. Sometimes, it does so by filing lawsuits on behalf of people who have been harmed by violations of those laws, like what happened here. ↩︎
  3. Consent Decree, EEOC v. 1st Franklin Financial Corp, 1:25-cv-03632-TWT-CCB, ECF No. 14 (N.D. GA. December 22, 2025). ↩︎
  4. See generally, 42 U.S.C.S. § 12112. ↩︎
  5. See Wood v. Green, 323 F.3d 1309, 1314 (11th Cir. 2003). ↩︎