Ziccarelli v. Dart

Salvatore Ziccarelli (plaintiff) worked as a corrections officer for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office (the sheriff’s office) (defendant). At various points during Ziccarelli’s employment, Ziccarelli developed serious health conditions and took leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). In July 2016, Ziccarelli began receiving treatment for work-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). By September 2016, Ziccarelli had used 304 of his available 480 hours of FMLA leave for 2016. Ziccarelli wanted to enroll in an eight-week PTSD-treatment program, and he contacted the sheriff’s office’s FMLA manager, Wylola Shinnawi (defendant), to inquire about combining his available FMLA leave with other leave time to attend the program. According to Ziccarelli, Shinnawi told Ziccarelli that Ziccarelli had already taken “serious amounts of FMLA” and would be disciplined for taking more. Although Shinnawi did not explain how Ziccarelli would be disciplined, Ziccarelli feared that he might be fired. According to Shinnawi, Ziccarelli requested to take several months of leave, and Shinnawi told Ziccarelli that Ziccarelli did not have enough FMLA hours available. Shinnawi then purportedly explained that if Ziccarelli tried to use more FMLA leave than he had available, the leave would be considered unauthorized and reviewed by the sheriff’s office’s attendance-review program. Ziccarelli retired from the sheriff’s office shortly after speaking with Shinnawi. Ziccarelli subsequently sued the sheriff’s office, Shinnawi, and other county officials (collectively, the county) (defendants), asserting that the county had interfered with Ziccarelli’s FMLA rights. Ziccarelli further asserted that the county had constructively discharged him in retaliation for inquiring about using FMLA leave. The district court granted summary judgment for the county. Ziccarelli appealed.