A lawsuit against Salesforce is a reminder that FMLA retaliation risk doesn’t always look obvious. A former Salesforce employee alleges the company deliberately engaged with one of his clients during his approved FMLA leave to build a negative record, then eliminated his position shortly after his return, citing lack of work and a poor performance rating he disputes. The lawsuit also raises ADA association claims, as the leave was taken to care for his father, who had cancer.
At ConnectBridge, this is the pattern we see create legal exposure: an employee returns from protected leave, faces reduced work assignments, and is later let go for reasons that don’t hold up to scrutiny. The FMLA explicitly prohibits using leave as a negative factor in employment decisions.
When termination decisions involve employees who recently took protected leave, documentation of the business rationale needs to be airtight and consistent with how similar situations are handled across the organization.
Recent reporting from HR Dive covers the details of this case. To read more, click here.
