A former employee lost her Family Medical Leave Act suit against her former medical company employer by failing to disclose the claim to her bankruptcy court.
U.S. District Court Judge Greg Gerard Guidry granted the defendant's motion for judgment on the pleadings on April 7 in U.S. District Court Louisiana Eastern District.
Ruby Castillo filed a Family Medical Leave (FMLA) claim against E.M. Dimitri, D.O. Professional Medical Corp. (Dimitri Dermatology). She alleged the company fired her just a day before she was scheduled to return from her FMLA leave following surgery.
By failing to disclose this claim to the bankruptcy court when detailing her assets and liabilities, her lawsuit didn't hold up under the doctrine of judicial estoppel. Castillo filed for bankruptcy on March 22, 2016. The plaintiff filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission on Oct. 24, 2017.
"In this case, the plaintiff has asserted a position plainly inconsistent with a prior position," Judge Guidry wrote in his order. "In the Fifth Circuit, the Bankruptcy Code and Rules impose upon bankruptcy debtors an express, affirmative duty to disclose all assets, including contingent and unliquidated claims."
Under the code and rules, Castillo had the responsibility of letting the bankruptcy court know about her FMLA lawsuit. Even though she sued a year after her bankruptcy case came to an end, she still knew about the FMLA claim after the EEOC gave her a right to sue roughly a month before she filed the action, the judge noted in his order.
The bankruptcy court ultimately accepted her previous financial position when it made her bankruptcy official.
Castillo also couldn't use a lack of knowledge in not disclosing her FMLA claim to the bankruptcy court.
"Plaintiff clearly had knowledge of the facts giving rise to her undisclosed FMLA claim, when she was terminated on Sept. 25, 2017 and when the EEOC issued plaintiff's notice of rights letter on May 7, 2018. Therefore, the record shows that plaintiff did not lack knowledge of the facts giving rise to her undisclosed FMLA claim," Judge Guidry wrote.
U.S. District Court Louisiana Eastern District case number 19-10888