Eligible employees may take FMLA leave for siblings, says court

Traditionally, employees may take leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to care for a spouse, parent, or child. This includes leave to care for an "in loco parentis" parent or child, in other words, someone standing in the role of a parent or child.

One court ruling reminds employers that this can mean that employees may take FMLA leave to care for an adult sibling. The FMLA doesn't typically FMLA include siblings, and employers shouldn't assume all siblings are suddenly included as approved family members under the FMLA in all situations.

The case

Celestia requested time off under the FMLA to take care of her sister, who was dying of cancer. Her employer told her the FMLA did not provide leave to care for an adult sibling. Eventually, when Celestia did not show up for work one day, the employer fired her.

The employer then took a few missteps:

• It lied and told unemployment authorities Celestia had quit.
• It failed to give Celestia the required COBRA continuation notice regarding her health insurance, despite disenrolling her from the insurance plan.
• It threatened to bring sanctions if she brought an FMLA lawsuit.

Celestia sued, nonetheless, claiming that her termination and alleged retaliatory actions violated the FMLA and other laws.

In court

The court indicated that the FMLA does not provide details on whether it recognizes the kind of "in loco parentis" relationship Celestia claimed. The "relationship" (in terms of the FMLA) didn't develop until her sister was an adult, and after the sister's cancer began. The FMLA doesn't provide much detail on how to address this specific situation. Typically, employers take the approach of whether or not there was a parent/child relationship when one of those involved was under age 18.

This court, however, turned to the common law, which confirms that "in loco parentis" relationships can form after a person is 18 or after the onset of disability. It then said that Celestia successfully showed she intended to, and did, assume a parental role over her sister.

The ruling

The FMLA envisions "in loco parentis" relationships to involve children who are 18 or older. It doesn't, however, say whether the "in loco parentis" relationship or the child's disability must have started before the child became an adult; or whether the relationship must have been in place before the child's incapacity. A "child," according to the court, can refer to a child of any age; every adult is the child of their parents.

The U.S. Department of Labor, in guidance from 2013, supported this by saying that the age of the onset of the disability is irrelevant when employers determine whether a family member is considered a child under the FMLA.

This doesn't mean that every eligible employee can now take FMLA leave for siblings. This was the ruling of one court in one case. This does, however, shed light on how employers should approach all requests for FMLA leave more carefully and consider all the facts involved before denying leave.

Chapman v. Brentlinger Enterprises, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, Nos. 23-3582/3613, December 13, 2024.