Picking Up Prescription Refill Note Is Not Treatment for FMLA Leave Purposes: Seventh Circuit | Practical Law

Picking Up Prescription Refill Note Is Not Treatment for FMLA Leave Purposes: Seventh Circuit | Practical Law

In Jones v. C&D Technologies, Inc., the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that picking up a prescription refill note from a doctor's office does not qualify as receiving medical treatment for a serious medical condition under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and therefore that the plaintiff was not entitled to FMLA leave.

Picking Up Prescription Refill Note Is Not Treatment for FMLA Leave Purposes: Seventh Circuit

by PLC Labor & Employment
Published on 29 Jun 2012 • USA (National/Federal)
In Jones v. C&D Technologies, Inc., the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that picking up a prescription refill note from a doctor's office does not qualify as receiving medical treatment for a serious medical condition under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and therefore that the plaintiff was not entitled to FMLA leave.
On June 28, 2012, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued an opinion in Jones v. C&D Technologies, Inc., holding that picking up a prescription refill note from a doctor does not qualify as "treatment" for purposes of "absence for treatment" authorized by the FMLA. Although the term "treatment" is defined for purposes of the definition of serious health condition in Sections 825.115 and 825.113 of Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the term is not defined for purposes of absence for treatment in Section 825.123.
The FMLA entitles an employee to take leave for his own serious health condition, a condition that involves either inpatient care or continuing treatment by a health care provider, that makes him unable to perform his job. The plaintiff claimed he was entitled to miss work to pick up a prescription refill note from his doctor's office because obtaining the note qualified as receiving treatment and made him unable to perform his job functions. The Seventh Circuit disagreed, finding that:
  • While taking prescription medication is evidence that an employee suffers from a serious health condition, it does not indicate that the employee's condition prevents him from performing his job, as required by the FMLA.
  • Treatment qualifying an employee for FMLA leave requires some examination or evaluation by a doctor beyond merely picking up a prescription refill note.
For more information on FMLA leave for an employee's serious health condition, see Practice Note, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Basics: Personal Serious Health Condition.
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