SHREVEPORT — A Bossier Parish woman suffering from IBS is suing a Texas communications company, alleging she was wrongfully terminated for taking leave in accordance with the FMLA.
Vanessa Warren Scott filed a lawsuit March 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana against Universal Cable Holding Inc., doing business as Suddenlink Communications of Lubbock, alleging violations of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Louisiana Revised Statute.
According to the complaint, Scott was hired by Suddenlink as a dispatcher in February 2013, and promoted in 2014 to the quota team. The suit says the plaintiff suffers from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), for which she was approved for leave under the FMLA on June 12, 2014.
In December 2014, the lawsuit states defendant removed the plaintiff from her position on the quota team back to her position answering phones. Scott alleges on Feb. 17 and Feb. 27, 2015, she had flare-ups of her IBS and had to miss two full days of work, for which she was written up for despite having FMLA leave.
The plaintiff argues she worked out the issue with her supervisor, agreeing to give up her FMLA leave to remove the write-ups. However, after missing more time to attend doctor’s appointments, Sciott says she was wrongfully terminated March 21, 2015, for excessive unexcused absences.
The plaintiff states that her supervisor had not removed the write-ups and was under the belief that she had FMLA leave left, which she alleges constitutes a violation of her rights under the act.
Scott seeks front and back pay, lost wages, compensatory damages, liquidated damages, pre and post-judgment, costs, attorney fees and a trial by jury. She is represented by attorneys Charles E. Tabor and Marjorie L. Frazier of Wiener Weiss & Madison, in Shreveport.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana Case number 5:16-cv-00357