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Medley v. Valentine Radford Communications7/19/2005
Opinion Vote: AFFIRMED.
Lowenstein and Breckenridge, JJ. concur.
Opinion:
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Ms. Karen Medley began working for Valentine Radford in February 2001 as a media supervisor. She worked between fifty and sixty hours a week. She was responsible for negotiating and buying media for clients and for various other media distribution matters. Because she had already planned a vacation for March 2001, she was hired with the understanding that she could take a week off for that vacation without pay. As a part of her benefits, she was given five days of sick leave and fifteen days of vacation, in addition to the week off in March.
Ms. Medley missed a week of work in April 2001 due to a sinus infection. She then missed three weeks of work from June 25 to July 13 due to a "menstrual episode" and "fatigue." When she returned, she had used up all of her paid sick leave and vacation time for the year. A few months after Ms. Medley started at Valentine Radford, she began experiencing unusual menstrual periods with excessive bleeding and cramping. She was ultimately treated by Dr. Ryan Reynolds, a gynecologist, for a fundal uterine mass and diagnosed with menorrhagia and dysmenorrea. She began treatment for this by being placed on Depo Provera in September 2001. She followed Valentine Radford's policy to request short-term disability by filling out an Employee Statement and providing an Attending Medical Doctor's Statement and went on disability leave on September 16, 2001, with a return date of November 1, 2001.
Ms. Medley learned that, as a result of her health problems, she would be unlikely to ever have children. She began to experience depression, and in October 2001 she saw licensed clinical social worker Riley Bishop. He advised her that it would not be in her best interests to return to work immediately. Mr. Bishop wrote a note requesting additional medical leave for Ms. Medley, but because he is not a medical doctor, that note was not sufficient to entitle Ms. Medley to further medical leave. She did not return to work on November 1, 2001.
On November 12, 2001, Ms. Medley filled out another Employee Statement, describing her symptoms as fatigue, anxiety, and depression and stating that she had trouble doing normal daily functions. On November 19, 2001, Ms. Medley sent an email to Ms. Carla Brown, Human Resources Manager, telling her that she would submit the paperwork for her absence since November 1 "as soon as I can get a handle on it." Ms. Medley saw Dr. Reynolds, but he was not able to provide her with a medical excuse because he was only treating her for her physical problems, which were improving, and not her depression. Ms. Medley then made an appointment for December 11, 2001, with Dr. Walker, a psychiatrist, to get the proper paperwork. She sent Ms. Brown and Mr. Jeff Huggins, Vice President/Director of Operations, an email letting them know that about her upcoming appointment with Dr. Walker. On December 4, 2001, Mr. Huggins sent her an email telling her that even after repeated requests they had no paperwork from a medical doctor stating that she could not come back to work and so if she did not return by December 10 then he would accept that as her voluntary resignation.
Ms. Medley returned to work on December 5, 2001. She wrote an email to her boss, Mr. Norm Olson, advising him of upcoming doctors' appointments and a family matter that would require her to miss various days of work. There was no objection to those missed days. Ms. Medley had a relapse of her physical problems and began missing work again on December 26, 2001. She sent an email to Mr. Olson each morning letti
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