CSX granted summary judgment on Union-filed challenge to FMLA policy

Client(s) CSX Corporation

Jones Day obtained summary judgment for CSX Transportation, Inc. in a lawsuit filed by the International Association of Machinists (IAM) challenging the method by which CSX calculates FMLA leave for its machinists. IAM argued that, because machinists are scheduled to work 40 hours per week, CSX’s use of the variable workweek method to calculate their FMLA entitlement was inappropriate, and resulted in machinists being illegally disciplined and terminated under CSX’s attendance policy. The District Court granted CSX’s motion for summary judgment and denied IAM’s motion for summary judgment. In doing so, the Court held that IAM did not have associational standing to sue on behalf of its members, and that, regardless, CSX’s use of the variable workweek method to calculate FMLA entitlement under these circumstances was appropriate. The Court also dismissed the claims of an individual machinist who had been dismissed under the attendance policy after having exhausted FMLA leave.

International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District Lodge 19 et al. v. CSX Transportation, Inc., No. 1-19-cv-01238 (N.D.N.Y.)