Dalpiaz v. Carbon County, Utah, 760 F.3d 1126

Bridget Dalpiaz, Carbon County benefits administrator, was injured in an April 2009 car accident and took intermittent/partial leave; returned July 13, 2009 on restricted hours.
County requested FMLA certification in May 2009; Dalpiaz delayed returning required forms until the county-set deadline of July 10, 2009.
Supervisor received multiple written reports from coworkers alleging Dalpiaz engaged in physical activities inconsistent with her claimed injury.
County twice directed Dalpiaz to schedule an independent medical examination (IME); she attempted to schedule but did not obtain a referral or further pursue the IME, and no IME occurred.
Dalpiaz was suspended with pay August 24, 2009 and discharged September 4, 2009 for five stated reasons: late FMLA forms, failure to schedule IME, dishonesty re: injury, sick-leave abuse, and misuse of county camera.
Dalpiaz sued under the FMLA (interference theory); the district court granted summary judgment for defendants. On appeal, she challenged only the denial of her FMLA claim; she attempted to argue retaliation but had not pleaded it below.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Dalpiaz pleaded/preserved an FMLA retaliation claim	Dalpiaz argued her complaint alleging interference and factual allegations about pretext sufficed to raise retaliation on appeal	County argued Dalpiaz pleaded only interference and never raised retaliation below, so retaliation is waived	Court held retaliation was waived: complaint and summary-judgment proceedings treated claim as interference only, and Dalpiaz failed to preserve retaliation on appeal
Whether the county interfered with Dalpiaz's FMLA rights by suspending/terminating her while on partial FMLA leave	Dalpiaz argued the stated reasons were pretextual and four of five reasons related to her FMLA leave, supporting an inference of interference	County argued it had legitimate, non-FMLA-related reasons (failure to timely complete forms, failure to schedule IME, dishonesty, sick-leave abuse, policy violations) and would have fired her regardless	Court held interference claim fails: even assuming an adverse action while on leave, county met its burden showing it would have dismissed Dalpiaz for non-FMLA reasons (failure to follow directives and credible evidence supporting discipline), so indirect causal link insufficient

Doe v. City of Albuquerque, 667 F.3d 1111 (10th Cir. 2012) (standard of review for summary judgment)
Metzler v. Fed. Home Loan Bank of Topeka, 464 F.3d 1164 (10th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing FMLA interference and retaliation theories)
Campbell v. Gambro Healthcare, Inc., 478 F.3d 1282 (10th Cir. 2007) (elements of FMLA interference)
Bones v. Honeywell Int’l, Inc., 366 F.3d 869 (10th Cir. 2004) (employer’s absence-policy enforcement can defeat interference claim)
Smith v. Diffee Ford-Lincoln-Mercury, Inc., 298 F.3d 955 (10th Cir. 2002) (indirect causal link between FMLA and termination inadequate)
McBride v. CITGO Petroleum Corp., 281 F.3d 1099 (10th Cir. 2002) (performance issues related to underlying illness can justify termination)
Kendrick v. Penske Transp. Servs., 220 F.3d 1220 (10th Cir. 2000) (court should not act as a super-personnel department)