Geography and the FMLA

Every semester in my Employer-Employee Relations class, we focus on that provision of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that requires a covered employer to have 50 employees within a 75 mile radius.  In such discussions, we generally talk about how employees can be aggregated at facilities within the relevant 75-mile distance, but, I have to admit, we have never discussed how you exactly measure that 75 miles.

Well the 10th Circuit now has in the case of   Hackworth v. Progressive Casualty Insurance Co, No. 05-6198 (10th Cir. Nov. 14, 2006).  In Hackworth, the Court found that the 75 mile rule means "surface" not "linear" as the crow flies miles.  This was significant in Hackworth because the surface measurement in that case was 75.6 miles.

Ouch. 

Hat Tip:  Michael Fox at Jottings By An Employer's Lawyer

PS