Georgia Deputy Chief Claims Termination Violates FMLA and Disability Laws

A deputy chief in Georgia who was terminated in July, 2023, has filed suit claiming violations of the Family Medical Leave Act, disability discrimination, and retaliation. Deputy Chief Eric Phillips filed suit in US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia against Douglas County and the Douglas County Fire/EMS Department.

Chief Phillips was hired on July 12, 2021 by Douglas County as the Deputy Chief of Administration. A condition of his employment was that he would obtain firefighter certification by the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council within one year. By June, 2022 he had completed everything but Hazmat Ops and completion of the CPAT.

However, while training he suffered second degree burn injuries to his knees. Quoting from the complaint:

• Mr. Phillips attempted to push through the pain of the burns in the days immediately following being burned, but he sought medical attention on July 2, 2022 when the burns became infected.
• On July 7, 2022, Mr. Phillips also reported the burn incident to Ms. Lillian Lester of Risk and Safety and was immediately sent to Wellstar Cobb Outpatient Burn Wound Center.
• In early July of 2022, he notified Fire Chief Roderick Jolivette of the burns on his knees which limited Mr. Phillips’ mobility and required medical follow up appointments.
• Chief Jolivette encouraged Mr. Phillips to take the time that he needed to recover and told Mr. Phillips that his health comes first.
• Chief Jolivette also stated that Mr. Phillips’ time to complete his Georgia Firefighter Certification would stop during his recovery.
• This stoppage of the time to complete his Georgia Firefighter Certification is a common practice at DCFED and would have accommodated Mr. Phillips’ disability and the related limitations to Mr. Phillips’ mobility and medical follow up appointments.
• Mr. Phillips sought and received an accommodation from Chief Jolivette to take the haz-mat class in Griffin, GA which he completed on July 29, 2022.
• Around August 6, 2022, Mr. Phillips began noticing pain in his right knee. He was diagnosed with a stress fracture brought on by the way that he walked to compensate for the burns on his knees.
• He notified Chief Jolivette and [Randy Toms, the Executive Director of GFSTC] regarding this exacerbation of his injury.
• This stress fracture substantially limited Mr. Phillips’ major life activities of walking, standing, sleeping, concentrating, and working.
• Despite these limitations, Mr. Phillips was still able to perform the essential functions of his position provided that he had sufficient accommodation including, but not limited to, being allowed additional time to complete his Georgia Firefighter Certification.
• During interactions with Mr. Toms regarding Mr. Phillips’ Georgia Firefighter certification, Mr. Toms assured Mr. Phillips—just as Chief Jolivette had said—that he would have the time he needed to recover.
• On February 20, 2023, Chief Jolivette and Mr. Toms communicated regarding Mr. Phillips’ certification, and Mr. Phillips was told that he needed to take the CPAT by March 1, 2023 or he would not be able to continue as a Deputy Chief.
• Against his doctor’s recommendation, Mr. Phillips took the CPAT on February 22, 2023 and passed.
• In doing so, however, he aggravated the stress fracture in his right knee.
• Once Mr. Phillips passed the CPAT, he had completed all requirements for his Georgia Firefighter Certification and all that was left to do was to submit his Georgia Firefighter certification packet to GFSTC for approval.
• The rules governing the GFSTC state that “the Executive Director [of the GFSTC] may, in the exercise of his/her discretion, grant a waiver or waivers of an existing requirement or grant a reasonable period or periods of extension of any requirement imposed on a fire department….”
• The rules governing the GFSTC further state that “[a]ll requests for waivers or extensions must be submitted in writing to the Executive Director by the fire chief of the affected department” which must contain “(a) Name, present address, and telephone number of person requesting waiver or extension, and; (b) A statement clearly outlining why the requestor feels that a waiver or extension is justified.”
• Chief Jolivette was placed on administrative leave beginning on or around February 23, 2023, and Deputy Chief Miles Allen became Acting Chief.
• On February 27, 2023, Acting Chief Allen told Mr. Phillips that he no longer met the requirements to be a Deputy Chief because he failed to complete the haz-mat class within one year of his hire date.
• Mr. Phillips protested this determination and told Acting Chief Allen that he had been in constant communication with Mr. Toms regarding his certification, that his disability had prevented him from completing the certification requirements sooner, and that he had received an accommodation to complete the haz-mat class later.
• Undeterred by this explanation, Acting Chief Allen refused to send Mr. Phillips’ certification packet to the GFSTC for approval.
• Acting Chief Allen told Deputy Chief Phillips that he was to report to work the following day in civilian clothes and that he did not meet the requirements to be a Deputy Fire Chief for DCFED.
• On February 28, 2023, Mr. Phillips called out of work due to increasing pain in his knee.
• That same day, Mr. Phillips went to the doctor who told him that he needed to stay out of work for two weeks to allow for his knee to heal.
• That same day, Mr. Phillips went to DCFED headquarters and gave them the doctor’s note. He went home and applied for FMLA leave through DCFED’s employee website. His FMLA leave was eventually approved through March 14, 2023 and on an intermittent basis going forward.
• When Mr. Phillips returned to work on March 15, 2023, his work vehicle was taken from him and his job responsibilities and supervisory authority were stripped from him.
• On April 13, 2023, Mr. Phillips, through counsel, sent a letter to DCFED notifying them of the discrimination that he was facing and requesting that the certification packet for Mr. Phillips’ Georgia State Firefighter Certification— which had been complete since Mr. Phillips took the physical agility test on February 22, 2023—be processed.
• On April 25, 2023, Acting Chief Allen submitted Mr. Phillips’ certification packet to the GFSTC.
• On May 10, 2023, Acting Chief Allen notified Mr. Phillips via email that he was being placed on administrative leave. Attached to the email was a letter from David Corbin, County Administrator, alleging that certain “preliminary discussions regarding [Mr. Phillips’] certification application revealed certain matters that require further investigation…” and that his application was being withdrawn pending review. This attached letter also notified Mr. Phillips that he was being relieved of his duties as Deputy Chief.
• At no time did Acting Chief Allen request a waiver, extension, or exception to the one-year Georgia Firefighter Certification requirement to Mr. Toms or anyone else on Mr. Phillips’ behalf.

The suit contains six counts:

1. Interference with his FMLA Rights
2. FMLA retaliation
3. Failure to accommodate a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment Act (ADAAA)
4. Retaliation under the ADAAA
5. Violation of the Rehabilitation Act
6. Retaliation under the Rehabilitation Act

Here is a copy of the complaint: