Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, LITIGATION NEWS, TRENDS—Disability discrimination and medical leave cases of note, (Nov 19, 2025)

By Pamela Wolf, J.D.

Employers facing disability discrimination and medical leave lawsuits by employees include the District of Columbia, Acres Enterprises, Sacopee Valley Health Center, and Excel Fitness Holdings.

In Spillers v. District of Columbia, Case No. 1:25-cv-03968, filed in the District of Columbia on November 14, 2025, the plaintiff, hired as a crime scene forensic scientist, alleged that during her probationary period she was suddenly diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease and liver disease. She requested and was granted FMLA leave but was unable to return to work as planned without an accommodation formally requested by her doctor, that she not work nights for 90 days. She wanted a temporary, consistent work duty schedule on the day tour. HR allegedly advised her that she could be assigned a temporary, consistent work schedule on the evening or midnight tour, and that there was no operational need for such a schedule on the day tour. The plaintiff purportedly replied that after talking to her doctors none of those options would work, and that she would remain on her current rotating schedule and continue to work with her doctor to find alternatives. Three days later, during the month that would complete her probation, HR advised her that she was terminated. The plaintiff alleges claims of retaliation and disability discrimination under the District of Columbia Human Rights Act.

In Thompson v. Acres Enterprises, LLC, dba Yellowstone Landscape, Case No. 1:25-cv-13943, filed in the Northern District of Illinois on November 13, 2025, the plaintiff, who alleges she worked as a collector with good performance reviews, repeatedly complained to management about her excessive workload. Following a medical crisis at work affecting her eye, she was diagnosed with optic neuritis, a serious health condition that involved inflammation of the optic nerve and significantly impaired her vision. She sought and was granted both FMLA leave and short-term disability leave. When she emailed HR regarding her return-to-work plan, she allegedly received no reply after repeated attempts. When she brought her laptop in for security and access to company portals, she purportedly received an email advising that she had not been truthful about her leave dates and that her manager was not ready for her to return her to work. The next day, allegedly despite her denial that she had been untruthful and assertion that she had been under medical care, she was terminated for being “untrustworthy and no longer reliable.” The plaintiff raises claims of FMLA interference and retaliation.

In Mixer v. Sacopee Valley Health Center, Case No. 2:25-cv-00572-LEW, filed in the District of Maine on November 14, 2025, the plaintiff, a medication assisted treatment nurse, alleges that she was diagnosed with severe neutropenia, a condition in which she had an abnormally low level of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell crucial in fighting infections. Her doctor provided notes to her employer advising that she needed to work from home indefinitely until further medical testing was completed in order to avoid the higher risk of infection associated with working in a medical facility. She requested the accommodation of working from home. Her employer purportedly did permit other RNs to work from home. The defendant allegedly terminated her employment the day it received her second doctor’s note, stating that it did not have a position that she could perform. She was ultimately diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, which had caused her neutropenia. She alleged the defendant could have accommodated her through remote work, medical leave, part-time work, or some combination of such, but never made any effort to consider appropriate and available accommodations. She asserted disability discrimination and failure to accommodate claims under the ADA, the Maine Human Rights Act, and the Rehabilitation Act, as well as interference and retaliation claims under the FMLA.

In Ricks v. Excel Fitness Holdings, LLC, dba Planet Fitness, Case No. 4:25-cv-01286-O, filed in the Northern District of Texas on November 14, 2025, the plaintiff alleges he worked as a fitness instructor, and that the defendant knew, via written documentation, that he suffered from anxiety and depression. He allegedly contracted Covid, and afterward experienced ongoing memory issues and developed significant social anxiety. To manage his anxiety and remain productive at work, he purportedly used the employee break room as a “safe space” to take short breaks to compose himself before resuming his duties. Citing his purported use of an electronic cigarette in the break room, his manager told him could not take a break or leave the facility without her advance permission. Later, when he requested some days off to deal with depression and avoid a mental health crisis, his manager allegedly granted the leave but did not tell him it would be unpaid. One day, he came to work feeling ill, and emailed his manager that he needed to leave. When he got no response, he waited in his car for her to come in at her usual time a few hours later, but he fell asleep. He was terminated for “theft of company time” for failing to clock out, which the defendant acknowledged was untrue at a later unemployment denial hearing. The plaintiff raised ADA claims of disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, and hostile work environment.

Companies: District of Columbia; Acres Enterprises, LLC; Yellowstone Landscape; Sacopee Valley Health Center; Excel Fitness Holdings, LLC; Planet Fitness

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