Jeffrey BONKOWSKI, Appellant v. OBERG INDUSTRIES, INC.
No. 14-1239.
United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.
Argued Oct. 23, 2014. Filed: May 22, 2015.
787 F.3d 190
BEFORE: FUENTES, GREENBERG and COWEN, Circuit Judges.
Pаul S. Mazeski, Esq., Erin J. McLaughlin, Esq. (Argued), Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, Pittsburgh, PA, for Appellee.
COWEN, Circuit Judge.
Plaintiff Jeffrey Bonkowski appeals from the order of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania granting the summary judgment motion filed by Defendant Oberg Industries, Inc. (“Oberg“) with respect to his claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA“). In this appeal, the Court must interpret a Department of Labor (“DOL“) regulation which states in relevant part that “[i]npatient care means an overnight stay in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility.” We conclude that “an overnight stay” means a stay in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility for a substantial period of time from one calendar day to the next calendar day as measured by the individual‘s time of admission and his or her time of discharge. Because Bonkowski was admitted and discharged on the same calendar day, we will affirm the District Court‘s order.
Bonkowski worked for Oberg (a manufacturer of precision components and tooling) as a wirecut operator and machinist. He has a number of health conditions, including an aortic bicuspid (i.e., he has two heart valves as opposed to three) and diabetes. He was diagnosed with a possible aortic aneurysm after he fainted in the woods in May 2010. In addition, Bonkowski‘s colon was removed.
On November 14, 2011, Bonkowski met with two supervisors (David Santi and Jeffrey Ambrose) in order to discuss his recent suspension for allegedly sleeping on the job. According to Bonkowski, he began to experience shortness of breath, chest pain, and dizziness, аnd Santi and Ambrose gave him permission to go home and continue their meeting the next day. He clocked out at 5:18 p.m. and went home to try to slow down his breathing and heart rate. Lisa Bonkowski testified at her deposition that her husband looked as “white as a ghost” and was clutching his chest. (A345.) Over the next few hours, Bonkowski unsuccessfully tried to slow down his heartbeat and catch his breath.
Shortly after 11 p.m., Bonkowski‘s wife drove him to Butler Memorial Hospital. It appears that the couple arrived at the hospital shortly before midnight. At his deposition, Bonkowski stated that “I just know that I arrived earlier, I remember just when they were wheeling me in, I see a clock right in front of me and it was a few minutes before 12:00.” (A279.) He was then admitted shortly after midnight on November 15, 2011.
Bonkowski underwent comprehensive testing at the hospital. His wife was initially informed that he may need open heart surgery. However, the tests did not find any complications with his heart condition or diabetes. Bonkowski accordingly was released from Butler Memorial Hospi
The record includes two documents from Butler Memorial Hospital: (1) the “Discharged Inpatient Report” (A353-A359); and (2) the “Discharge Instructions” (A363). Summarizing the test results, the Discharged Inpatient Report identified the date of “Reg” as “11/15/11” and the date of “Disch.” as “11/15/11.” (A353-A359.) Likewise, the Discharge Instructions indicated that “11/15/11” was the “ADM-DT” and that Bonkowski was discharged on “11/15/11.” (A363.)
On November 16, 2011, Lou Proviano, the head of Oberg‘s human resources department, notified Bonkowski that his employment was terminated because he had walked off the job on November 14, 2011. In his subsequent deposition testimony, Proviano characterized Bonkowski‘s time in the hospital as an “overnight situation.” (See A292 (“It was a voicemail—it was a voicemail message that indicated that she was trying to get FMLA documentation from Jeff Ambrose, and the overnight situation usually doesn‘t warrant an FMLA document at the time.“).)
Bonkowski filed the current FMLA action against Oberg. He alleged two causes of action under the FMLA: (1) Oberg retaliated against him for exercising his FMLA rights; and (2) Oberg interfered with his FMLA rights.
After the parties completed discovery, Oberg filed a motion for summary judgment. In a January 17, 2014 order, the District Court granted Oberg‘s motion, entering judgment in favor of Oberg and against Bonkowski. In its accompanying memorandum opinion, the District Court determined that “no reasonable jury could find that plaintiff‘s absence from work on November 15, 2011, was a qualifying absence under the FMLA entitling him to protection from Defendant‘s interference or retaliation with his FMLA rights.” Bonkowski v. Oberg Indus., Inc., 992 F. Supp. 2d 501, 512 (W.D. Pa. 2014). In short, it rejected Bonkowski‘s retaliation and interference claims because he did not have a “serious health condition” under
Specifically, the District Court was required to interpret
The District Court ruled that “Plaintiff can establish he had a qualifying serious medical condition only if he is able to establish he spent the entire ‘night’ as an inpatient at the hospital” and that “an ‘overnight stay’ at a hospital is a stay from sunset on one day to sunrise the next day.” Id. at 511. Taking judicial notice of the sunset and sunrise times set out in The Old Farmer‘s Almanac, the District Court ascertained that, based on Butler Memorial Hospital‘s zip code, the sun set at 5:02 p.m. on November 14, 2011 and rose at 7:07 a.m. on November 15, 2011. According to the District Court, Bonkowski was required to “put fоrth evidence that he was in the hospital from November 14, 2011, at 5:02 p.m. until November 15, 2011, at 7:07 a.m. to show his condition qualified as a serious medical condition under the FMLA.” Id. He failed to do so:
The undisputed evidence in this case is that Plaintiff arrived at Butler Memorial Hospital shortly before midnight on November 14, 2011. He was admitted as an inpatient shortly after midnight on November 15, 2011. He remained at the hospital as an inpatient until the evening of November 15, 2011. The undisputed evidence of record shows that plaintiff did not stay overnight as an inpatient in the hospital because he did not arrive at the hospital until shortly before midnight on November 14, 2011, almost seven hours after the sun set that day. Plaintiff, therefore, failed to show that he spent the duration of the night at Butler Memorial Hospital . . .
Id. at 511-12 (citations omitted).
The District Court found it unnecessary to follow the rationale of the Second Circuit‘s ruling in Estate of Landers v. Leavitt, 545 F.3d 98 (2d Cir. 2008), and thereby conclude that “Plaintiff‘s arrival at Butler Memorial Hospital did not begin his inpatient stay; rather, plaintiff became an inpatient when he was formally admitted after midnight.” Bonkowski, 992 F. Supp. 2d at 510 n. 10. “Based upon the plain meaning of the word ‘overnight,’ even considering the time prior to plaintiff‘s formal admission, he did not stay overnight at the hospital.” Id.
The District Court likewise considered Bonkowski‘s argument that he stayed overnight at the hospital because Butler Memorial Hospital designated him as an inpatient (and because The Free Dictionary defines an “inpatient” as “[a] patient who is admitted to a hospital or clinic for treatment that requires at least one overnight stay,” id. at 509 n. 9 (quoting The Free Dictionary, http://www.thefreedictionary.com/inpatient (last visited Jan. 16, 2014))). According to the District Court, his argument laсked merit because “inpatient care” is defined by the regulations as “an overnight stay, meaning a plaintiff must stay overnight to qualify as receiving in-patient care.” Id. Butler Memorial Hospital‘s designation at best meant that his condition required one overnight stay. It “does not mean that plaintiff actually stayed overnight at the hospital, i.e., that he received inpatient care and is qualified for protection under the FMLA.” Id.
II.
Congress enacted the FMLA in 1993 to address problems associated with “inadequate job security for employees who have serious health conditions that prevent them from working for temporary peri
Under the FMLA, an employer may not “interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of or attempt to exercise, any right provided under this subchapter.”
The term “serious health condition” is intended to cover conditions or illnesses affecting one‘s health to the extent that inpatient care is required, or absences are necessary on a recurring basis or for more than a few days for treatment or recovery. Furthermore, the Congressional reports indicate that this term is not intended to cover short-term conditions for which treatment and recovery are very brief, since such conditions would generally be covered by employers’ sick leave policies. Examples of a serious health condition cited in the legislative history include heart attacks, heart conditions requiring heart bypass or valve operations, most cancers, back conditions requiring extensive therapy or surgical procedures, strokes, severe respiratory conditions, spinal injuries, appendicitis, pneumonia, emphysema, severe arthritis, severe nervous disorders, injuries caused by serious accidents on or off the job, ongoing pregnancy, severe morning sickness, the need for prenatal care, childbirth and recovery from childbirth.
Id. at 31,799. In the preamble to its 1995 rulemaking promulgating final FMLA regulations, the DOL observеd that “[t]his scant statutory definition [of a “serious health condition“] is further clarified by the legislative history.” The Family & Medical Leave Act, 60 Fed.Reg. 2180, 2191 (Jan. 6, 1995) (final rule). Specifically, “[t]he congressional reports did indicate that the term was not intended to cover short-term conditions for which treatment and recovery are very brief, as Congress expected that such conditions would be covered by even the most modest of employer sick leave policies.” Id. at 2191-92.
The DOL has adopted regulations that define the various terms incorporated into the FMLA‘s definition of a “serious health condition.” Both the parties and the District Court appear to turn to the current version of these DOL regulations, which went into effect on March 8, 2013. The current version of
In fact, the DOL‘s FMLA regulations have a rather lengthy and complicated history.
The department initially promulgated interim regulations in 1993. See 58 Fed. Reg. at 31,794. Initially,
(a) For purposes of FMLA, “serious health condition” means an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves:
(1) Any period of incapacity or treatment in connection with or consequent to inpatient care (i.e., an overnight stay) in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility;
Id. In turn, the interim version of the “Definitions” regulation (
The department promulgated final regulations implementing the FMLA in 1995, which were in effect from April 6, 1995 to January 15, 2009. See 60 Fed.Reg. at 2,180. This version of
(a) For purposes of FMLA, “serious health condition” entitling an employee to FMLA leave means an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves:
(1) Inpatient care (i.e., an overnight stay) in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility, including any period of incapacity (for purposes of this section, defined to mean inability to work, attend school or perform other regular daily activities due to the serious health condition, treatment therefor, or recovery therefrom), or any subsequent treatment in connection with such inpatient care; or
In 2008, the DOL revised its regulatory scheme. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 73 Fed.Reg. 67,934 (Nov. 17, 2008) (final rule). These FMLA regulations were in effect from January 16, 2009 to March 7, 2013 (and accordingly were in effect on November 14, 2011, when Bonkowski arrived at Butler Memorial Hospital, and on November 15, 2011, when he was both admitted and discharged). It appears that, in 2013, the department “mov[ed] the definitions section from current
As part of the rulemaking process, the DOL has received numerous comments from interested parties, such as employers, labor unions, and advocacy organizations, regarding the meaning and scope of the “continuing treatment” language in the FMLA, and, in turn, the department, has examined this “continuing treatment” concept in some detail. See 73 Fed.Reg. at 67,944-50; 60 Fed.Reg. at 2191-96; 58 Fed.Reg. at 31,799. In contrast, neither the DOL nor the commenters have devoted the same level of scrutiny to either the statutory concept of “inpatient care” or the department‘s own “overnight stay” language. As part of its 1993 interim rulemaking, the department expressly distinguished between the “inpatient care” and “continuing treatment” prongs (or “definitions“) of a “serious health condition“: “FMLA defines a ‘serious health condition’ as one which requires either inpatient care, or ‘continuing treatment by a health care provider.’ Although the meaning of inpatient care is evident, the alternative definition raises difficult questions.” 58 Fed.Reg. at 31,799. When it promulgated its final regulations in 1995, the DOL explained that, “[w]hile the meaning of inpatient care is evident (i.e., an overnight stay in the hospital, etc.), the concept of continuing treatment presents more difficult issues.” 60 Fed.Reg. at 2192. Most recently, the preamble to the regulations promulgated in 2008 included the following discussion of “Section 825.114 (Inpatient Care)“:
Section 825.114 of the proposed rule defined what constitutes inpatient care, adopting language from the current regulations. The definition of “inpatient care” in current
§ 825.114(a)(1) incorporates a definition of “incapacity,” which was removed from proposed§ 825.114 and replaced by a cross-reference to the stand-alone definition of “incapacity” in proposed§ 825.113(b) .The Equal Employment Advisory Council commented, “[w]e hope that setting ‘incapacity’ apart will emphasize for both employees and health care providers that actual inability to work is a fundamental prerequisite for FMLA protection.” There were no substantive comments on this section of the proposal, and the Department made no changes to the proposed text of this section in the final rule.
73 Fed.Reg. at 67,947; see also Family & Medical Leave Act Regulations: A Report
While the DOL has indicated in its rulemaking that the statutory terms “inpatient care” clearly (or “evidently“) mean “an overnight stay,” the department has not expressly addressed what exactly it means by “an overnight stay.” The parties, in turn, do not cite to any DOL materials or publications that address the meaning of
This Court ultimately agrees with the interpretation proffered by Oberg—although with one major modification. We believe that “an overnight stay” means a stay in a hosрital, hospice, or residential medical care facility for a substantial period of time from one calendar day to the next calendar day as measured by the individual‘s time of admission and his or her time of discharge.
In interpreting a federal regulation, we look to well-established principles of statutory interpretation. See, e.g., Schaar v. Lehigh Valley Health Servs., Inc., 598 F.3d 156, 160 (3d Cir. 2010). While a court generally should consider dictionary definitions as part of the interpretation process, it must do so with some care:
“[T]he starting point for interpreting a statute is the language of the statute itself.” Consumer Prod. Safety Comm‘n v. GTE Sylvania, Inc., 447 U.S. 102, 108 (1980). When words are not defined within the statute, we construe them “in accordance with [their] ordinary or natural meaning.” FDIC v. Meyer, 510 U.S. 471, 476 (1994). We do not, however, do so blindly.
“[F]requently words of general meaning are used in a statute . . . and yet a consideration of the whole legislation, or of the circumstances surrounding its enactment, or of the absurd results which follow from giving such broad meaning to the words, makes it unreasonable to believe that the legislator intended to include the particular act.”
Holy Trinity Church v. United States, 143 U.S. 457, 459 (1892). In such cases, resorting to dictionary definitions may be helpful. See MCI Telecomm. Corp. v. Am. Tel. & Tel. Co., 512 U.S. 218, 225 (1994) (stating, based on “[v]irtually every dictionary,”
United States v. Brown, 740 F.3d 145, 149 (3d Cir. 2014). “We look to dictionary definitions to determine the ordinary meaning of a word.” United States v. Husmann, 765 F.3d 169, 173 (3d Cir. 2014) (citing United States v. Geiser, 527 F.3d 288, 294 (3d Cir. 2008)). However, it is well established that statutory language must be read with reference to its statutory context. See, e.g. id. “After all, ‘[a] word in a statute may or may not extend to the outer limits of its definitional possibilities. Interpretation of a word or phrase depends upon reading the whole statutory text, considering the purpose and context of the statute, and consulting any precedents or authorities that inform the analysis.” Id. (quoting Dolan v. U.S. Postal Serv., 546 U.S. 481, 486 (2006)).
Accordingly, “[w]e assume that ‘Congress expresses its intent through the ordinary meaning of its language’ and therefore begin ‘with an examination of the plain language of the statute.‘” Disabled in Action of Pa. v. Southeastern Pa. Transp. Auth., 539 F.3d 199, 210 (3d Cir. 2008) (quoting Rosenberg v. XM Ventures, 274 F.3d 137, 141 (3d Cir. 2001)). When the statute‘s language is plain, the court‘s obligation is to enforce the statute according to its terms, at least where the disposition is not absurd (or where a literal application of a statute would not produce a result demonstrably at odds with the intentions of its drafters). See, e.g., Thorpe v. Borough of Thorpe, 770 F.3d 255, 263-64 (3d Cir. 2014); Official Comm. of Unsecured Creditors of Cybergenics Corp. ex rel. Cybergenics Corp. v. Chinery, 330 F.3d 548, 559 (3d Cir. 2003) (en banc). In the end, we should “avoid constructions that produce ‘odd’ or ‘absurd results’ or that are ‘inconsistent’ with common sense.‘” Disabled in Action, 539 F.3d at 210 (quoting Public Citizen v. U.S. Dep‘t of Justice, 491 U.S. 440, 454 (1989); 2A N. Singer, Sutherland Statutes & Statutory Construction § 45:12 (6th ed. 2000)).
The District Court relied on the on-line versions of The Merriam-Webster Dictionary and The Oxford Dictionaries. We find it significant that the District Court did not mention alternative definitions of the words “overnight” and “night” that are set forth in these two dictionaries. As the District Court pointed out, The Merriam-Webster Dictionary does define the word “overnight“—used as an adverb—to mean “for or during the entire night.” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Overnight, http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/overnight (last visited Dec. 11, 2014). However, it also defines the term as meaning “on the evening before” or “very quickly or suddenly.” Id. When used as an adjective (i.e., “an overnight stay“), “overnight” is defined to mean, among other things, “of, lasting, or staying the night,” “SUDDEN, RAPID,” “traveling during the night,” “accomplished by a mail service within one day‘s time,” or “delivered within one day‘s time.” Id. Likewise, The Oxford Dictionaries defines this term (used as an adverb) as “[f]or the duration of a night,” but the District Court did not mention that this on-line dictionary goes on to state that “overnight” could mean “[d]uring the course of a night” or “[v]ery quickly; suddenly.” The Oxford Dictionaries, Overnight, http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/overnight (last visited Dec. 22,
In any event, the District Court proceeded to adopt an overly narrow reading of
In fact, there are certain geographic locations where a “sunset-sunrise” approach does not make any sense at all. In Fairbanks, Alaska, the sun set at 2:40 p.m. on December 21, 2011 and then rose at 10:58 a.m. on December 22, 2011—more than twenty hours later. See The Old Farmer‘s Almanac, http://www.almanac.com/astronomy/rise/AK/Fairbanks/2011-12-21, http://www.almanac.com/astronomy/rise/AK/Fairbanks/2011-12-22 (last visited January 5, 2015). Accordingly, a Fairbanks patient who arrived at the hospital at 3:00 p.m. on December 21, 2011 and was discharged at noon the next calendar day would not satisfy the District Court‘s definition of an “overnight stay.” In contrast, the sun set in Fairbanks on June 21, 2011 at 12:48 a.m. and then rose on the same calendar day less than three hours later at 2:57 a.m. See The Old Farmer‘s Almanac, http://www.almanac.com/astronomy/rise/AK/Fairbanks/2011-6-21, http://www.almanac.com/astronomy/rise/AK/Fairbanks/2011-6-22 (last visited Jan. 5, 2015). A stay in a Fairbanks hospital from 12:15 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. would thereby constitute “an overnight stay” under the District Court‘s approach.
Given these consequences, we must conclude that the District Court‘s “sunset-sunrise” interpretation produces “‘odd’ or ‘absurd results.‘” Disabled in Action, 539 F.3d at 210 (citation omitted). Although Oberg argues that this approach has a rational basis, we do not believe that it constitutes an appropriate reading of
Although we thereby reject the District Court‘s reading of
While juries make factual findings, it is the responsibility of the judiciary to decide legal questions. This obligation clearly encompasses disputes regarding the meaning of federal statutes and federal regulations. We have approached questions of statutory and regulatory interpretation under the FMLA as questions of law to be decided by the courts themselves. See, e.g., Budhun v. Reading Hosp. & Med. Ctr., 765 F.3d 245, 255 (3d Cir. 2014) (“‘Accordingly, we interpret[ed] the requirement that an employee ‘take’ FMLA leave to connote invocation of FMLA rights, not actual commencement of leave.’ [ Erdman v. Nationwide Ins. Co., 582 F.3d 500, 509 (3d Cir. 2009).] The same reasoning applies here. A reading of the statute that denies all rights that the FMLA guarantees until the time that an employer designates the employee‘s leave as FMLA would be illogical and unfair.“); Haybarger v. Lawrence Cnty. Adult Prob. & Parole, 667 F.3d 408, 410, 412-17 (3d Cir. 2012) (concluding that supervisor at public agency may be subject to individual liability under FMLA). Accordingly, it is our obligation to interpret the DOL regulation at issue in this case. In other words, we must decide what the terms “an overnight stay” actually mean. It is then the jury‘s responsibility to dispose of any genuine issues of material fact on the basis of judicial instructions explaining the meaning of this legal concept of an “overnight stay“.
In fact, the two Third Circuit cases cited by Bonkowski indicate that it is the judiciary that must interpret and give meaning to the FMLA (and the DOL‘s FMLA regulations).
In Schaar v. Lehigh Valley Health Services, Inc., 598 F.3d 156 (3d Cir. 2010), we considered “whether a combination of expert and lay testimony can establish that an employee was incapacitated for more than three days as required by the FMLA‘s implementing regulations,” id. at 156. Answering this question in the affirmative, we explained that “[o]ur interpretation is guided by the statute and the Department of Labor regulations” and that “[w]e interpret those regulations using our well-established canons of statutory interpretation.” id. at 160. It was only after we interpreted the statutory and regulatory language to conclude that an employee may satisfy his or her burden of proving incapacitation through a combination of expert and lay testimony that we decided whether there was a genuine issue of material fact. Id. at 160-61. Applying this interpretation of the FMLA scheme, the Schaar Court determined that, given
In Victorelli v. Shadyside Hospital, 128 F.3d 184 (3d Cir. 1997), we similarly “disagree[d] with the district court‘s conclusion that as a matter of law the condition [i.e., а peptic ulcer] was a ‘minor one,‘” id. at 187. Specifically, we concluded that the district court adopted an unduly narrow construction of the “continuing treatment” standard set forth in the DOL‘s interim regulations. Id. “Moreover, even if we consider the provisions of the final regulation [i.e., the regulations promulgated in 1995], we find that it neither states nor implies that Victorelli‘s ulcer could not meet the requirements of a ‘serious health condition.‘” Id. at 187-88. This Court accordingly conducted its own analysis of the regulatory provisions in order to ascertain the meaning of the terms “continuing treatment.” Id. at 186-90. We then determined that “there is a material issue of fact whether Victorelli suffered a ‘serious health condition’ as interpreted under both the interim and the final rule.” Id. at 190. Significantly, the Court in Victorelli recognized that “[a] district court‘s interpretation of a federal regulation is a question of law subject to plenary review.” Id. at 186 (citing Helen L. v. DiDario, 46 F.3d 325, 329 (3d Cir. 1995); ADAPT v. Skinner, 881 F.2d 1184, 1191 n. 6 (3d Cir. 1989)).
It is conceivable that a court could interpret a particular statutory or regulatory provision as establishing some sort of multi-factor standard under which the fact finder determines whether a particular set of circumstances meets this standard. See, e.g., Haybarger, 667 F.3d at 418 (“As we recognized in applying the economic reality test in the context of the [Fair Labor Standards Act], whether a person functions as an employer depends on the totality of the circumstances rather than on ‘technical concepts of the employment relationship.‘” (citation omitted)). Even though we ultimately disagree with its interpretation, the District Court did at least adopt an objective approach that is relatively easy to apply and makes it relatively easy to predict whether an employee satisfies
Mr. Bonkowski arrived at the hospital shortly before midnight on November 14, 2011; that Mr. Bonkowski was admitted to the hospital shortly after midnight; that the hospital repeatedly designated Mr. Bonkowski as “inpatient;” that he remained at the hospital as an “inpatient” until the evening of November 15, 2011 [and thereby spent more than fourteen hours at the hospital]; that, while hospitalized, Mr. Bonkowski underwent comprehensive testing; that Mr. Bonkowski‘s doctor wrote him a medical note excusing him from work on November 15, 2011 because Mr. Bonkowski was “hospitalized;” that the District Court itself referenced Mr. Bonkowski‘s stay at the hospital as “inpatient;” and that Defendant referred to
Mr. Bonkowski‘s time at the hospital as an “overnight situation.”
(Appellant‘s Brief at 19-20.) We believe that any kind of “totality of the circumstances” approach would make it more difficult for both employers and employees to predict whether a specific set of circumstances rises to the level of “an overnight stay” under
According to Bonkowski, the First Circuit held that “the [FMLA] should be interpreted broadly enough to protect absences from work that are necessary for the purpose of
Having considered and rejected both the “sunset-sunrise” definition as well as an open-ended “totality of the circumstances” approach, we conclude that “an overnight stay” under
While he was not admitted until shortly after midnight on November 15, 2011, Bonkowski testified at his deposition that, when he was being wheeled into Butler Memorial Hospital, he saw a clock showing that “it was a few minutes before 12:00.” (A279.) He therefore takes issue with Oberg‘s position that a patient‘s stay in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility should be measured from the moment the individual was admitted. According to Bonkowski, it would be absurd (and contrary to the remedial purpose of the FMLA) to exclude from the definition of “an overnight stay” an individual who arrived at the hospital at 9:00 p.m. on November 14, 2011, was admitted at 12:01 a.m. on November 15, 2011, and was finally discharged at 11:59 p.m. on November 15, 2011. However, as Oberg points out, the Second Circuit has specifically addressed the admission concept under a similar statutory and regulatory scheme.
In Estate of Landers v. Leavitt, 545 F.3d 98 (2d Cir. 2008), the plaintiffs were Medicare bеneficiaries who received inpatient hospital care followed by care at skilled nursing facilities (“SNFs“), id. at 103. Part A of the Medicare statute provides coverage for post-hospital extended care services if such services are furnished to an individual “after transfer from a hospital in which he was an inpatient for not less than 3 consecutive days before his discharge from the hospital in connection with such transfer.” Id. (quoting
In the end:
[W]e conclude this portion of our opinion by reiterating our core holding in this case: in determining whether a Medicare beneficiary has met the statutory three-day hospital stay requirement needed to qualify for post-hospitalization SNF benefits under Part A, the time that the patient spends in the emergency room or on observation status before being formally admitted to the hospital does not count. In so holding, we expressly reject the rule of Jenkel v. Shalala, 845 F. Supp. 69 (D. Conn. 1994), which held that “later ‘formal admission‘” of a patient following her treatment in the emergency room operates as “a nunc pro tunc ratification of her de facto admission at the time of her arrival in the emergency room.” Id. at 71 (emphasis omitted) . . .
Id. at 112. The Second Circuit also rejected the plaintiffs’ equal protection challenge.
Admittedly, this appeal implicates a different statutory scheme enforced by a different federal agency. The Second Circuit itself premised its holding on an express agency policy interpreting the meaning of the term “inpatient” under the Medicare program (and the Landers court explained that, “[if] CMS were to promulgate a different definition of inpatient in the exercise of its authority to make rules carrying the force of law, that definition would be eligible for Chevron deference notwithstanding our holding today,” id. (citation omitted)). It is uncontested that there are no DOL regulations or policies expressly defining the word “inpatient” in terms of formal admission or explaining why time spent in the emergency room or under observation status does not count towards determining whether the individual meets
Nevertheless, we believe it is appropriate to follow the Second Circuit‘s example. We accordingly conclude that “an overnight stay” under
Significantly, the DOL, like CMS,7 has actually relied on this notion of a “calendar day” to explain the scope of the alternative “continuing treatment” prong. For instance, the current version of
Although we largely adopt Oberg‘s reading of
III.
For the foregoing reasons, we will affirm the District Court‘s order granting the motion for summary judgment filed by Oberg.
FUENTES, Circuit Judge, Dissenting.
In this case, we must interpret the term “overnight stay” for purposes of defining a serious health condition under the FMLA. The District Court held that an “overnight stay” in a hospital is measured from sunset to sunrise. Based on dictionary definitions, the test leads to results predicated principally on geo-location and the turn of the earth‘s axis. The majority rejects this test and I concur. The majority then proposes a new test. It defines “overnight stay” as a hospital stay from one calendar day to the next for a substantial period of time. A “substantial period,” the majority suggests, would be approximately eight hours. I believe this test is as inequitable and unworkable as the one it seeks to replace, and I therefore respectfully dissent.
Jeffrey Bonkowski suffered from a preexisting heart condition and diabetes. On November 14, 2011, he began experiencing shortness of breath and chest pains. In light of his appearance and medical history, Bonkowski‘s wife drove him to the hospital just after 11:00 p.m. that evening. Bonkowski arrived at the hospital shortly before midnight. Upon arrival, hospital personnel wheeled Bonkowski into the hospital prior to midnight. Bonkowski was admitted as an “inpatient” shortly after midnight, where he remained until the ear
The majority‘s approach is impractical, produces inequitable results, and is contrary to the remedial purpose of the FMLA. “Congress enacted the FMLA in response to concern regarding, [among other things], ‘inadequate job security for employees who have serious health conditions that prevent them from working for temporary periods.‘”1 The purpose of the FMLA is to “to entitle employees to take reasonable leave for medical reasons,” but in a “manner that accommodates the legitimate interests of employers.”2 As a remedial statute, the FMLA is to be construed broadly “to extend coverage and [its] exclusions or exceptions should be construed narrowly.”3 Denying FMLA protection to an еmployee who enters the hospital one day and remains there much of the day, totaling close to nineteen hours,
In my view, the majority‘s clear, “bright-line” approach is an inequitable one. By defining “overnight stay” based on “one calendar day to the next,” we fail to consider the multitude of factors impacting time of admission and the realities of our health care system. This is evident when we compare and contrast urban and rural hospitals. An urban hospital might be overrun with patients who lack health insurance and seek treatment in an emergency room. Thus, if an employee arrives at an urban hospital, he may be forced to wait hours before admission. Rural hospitals, on the other hand, face their own problems: smaller staffing and fewer beds might cause delays in admission.4 The majority‘s calendar definition also fails to consider seasonal fluctuations in hospitals. For instance, flu season typically peaks in January and February.5 If an employee falls ill during these months, the employee may face delays in admission not present during other periods in the year.6
In addition, an employee may face longer delays in admission depending on the day of the week he visits the hospital. Mondays, for instance, are considеred the busiest day of the week, while Thursdays are considered the quietest days.7 In fact, research has shown that there may be a “weekend effect” that “delays needed hospital care for weekend patients. There is some evidence that hospital mortality is higher on the weekends for certain types of patients.”8 This may lead “care providers [to] rush to discharge a patient on Friday so that they are out of the hospital
Furthermore, a temporal definition fails to consider transportation issues that may impact admission time. These may include: variances in traffic patterns which may delay an employee‘s arrival at the hospital; proximity and travel time to a hospital; availability of public versus private transportation; and seasonal weather issues such as snow storms, which may affect travel.
Finally, the “one calendar day to the next” approach also fails to take into account the intercession of everyday annoyances. For example, an employee is being driven to the hospital at the onset of his illness, and his transportation becomes disabled. He arrives at the hospital at 12:05 a.m. and remains in the hospital until 7 p.m. the next evening, a total of nineteen hours. This employee would not qualify for FMLA relief. But a separate employee arriving at 11:55 p.m. would merit relief. Or, consider the employee who arrives at 11:55 p.m., but because of staffing problems, the employee is not formally admitted until 12:02 a.m. He would not qualify for FMLA relief. Under the majority‘s proposed test, we deny FMLA protections to the employees in both scenarios
In light of the myriad problems we face in construing “overnight stay” temporally, I, instead, propose a totality of the circumstances approach. There are many factors probative of an overnight stay in a medical facility. Among the most important is the time an employee is formally admitted to the hospital and the time he is discharged from the hospital. Instead of relying on an arbitrary cut-off time, the court can balance whether the employee was discharged an hour after being admitted, or whether the employee spent fourteen hours in the hospital. Another factor is whether the employee spent at least part of the traditional night hours in the hospital—tracking the DOL‘s definition of “inpatient care.” The DOL contemplated an “overnight stay” in a medical facility; thus, spending ten hours during the day from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. may weigh against a finding of an “overnight stay,” whereas spending ten hours from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. would weigh in favor of such a finding.
An additional factor is whether admission was followed by an assignment to a room. This factor is used in other contexts, such as Medicaid. Medicaid defines “inpatient” as “a person who has been admitted to a hospital for bed occupancy for purposes of receiving inpatient hospital services.”16 Other relevant factors include the severity of the medical issue presented, whether the hospital ran extensive tests, and the hospital‘s classification of the еmployee as an “inpatient” or “outpatient.” The benefit of this analysis is that a court may assess the entire picture of an employee‘s hospital experience and then determine whether that employee is entitled to relief under the FMLA.
The material facts in this case are not in dispute. As previously stated, Bonkowski arrived at the hospital prior to midnight on November 14, and the hospital admitted him as an “inpatient” shortly after midnight. He stayed at the hospital for more than fourteen hours, being discharged in the early evening of November 15. While hospitalized, he underwent comprehensive testing. Under these circumstances, I would conclude that Bonkowski had an overnight stay in the hospital.
The majority fears that the totality of the circumstances approach would make it more difficult for both employers and employees to predict the circumstances that would give rise to an “overnight stay” and could lead to additional litigation in the future with possibly inconsistent results. There are no material issues of fact in Bonkowski‘s case, and I believe there will be no material issues of facts in most of these types of cases. Events leading to an employee‘s “overnight stay” at a hospital such as travel to the hospital, the day, date and time of arrival, the time the employee signs into the hospital, the time of admittance and discharge, and the employee‘s medical report are seldom matters of factual dispute. In such cases, I believe that the district court should be free to considеr all of the circumstances presented and conclude whether, as a matter of law, the employee has suffered a “serious health condition” under
Several courts have held that whether an employee suffers from a serious health condition is properly considered a question of law.17
Similar to the majority‘s approach, where the facts are undisputed in a case, the district court may, in its discretion, quite easily determine whether an employee had an overnight stay in the hospital weighing the factors I proposed. The only difference is that a totality of the circumstances approach simply considers more of the evidence rather than solely the “one calendar day to the next day” approach that the majority proposes. Where material facts in the record are disputed, of course, summary judgment cannot be granted and the case must be submitted to a jury—but this is true under any approach.
For these reasons, I dissent in favor of a totality of the circumstances approach. Unless and until the DOL clarifies the definition of “overnight stay,” this approach offers a practical and more equitable inquiry into an employee‘s hospital experience, and one that more fully comports with the remedial purpose of the FMLA.
JULIO M. FUENTES
UNITED STATES CIRCUIT JUDGE
Notes
Bonkowski similarly points out that he was designated as “inpatient” in the Butler Memorial Hospital‘s records, Proviano (the head of Oberg‘s human resources department) characterized his time at the hospital as an “overnight situation” (A292), and the District Court referred to his stay at the hospital as inpatient care. Even if we were to adopt a “totality of the circumstances” approach, we do not believe that such passing references by a district judge, a manager, or hospital personnel would be considered dispositive or even especially relevant to the outcome. After all, Bonkowski has provided no evidence regarding the standards, if any, that Butler Memorial Hospital may have used in deciding to use the title “Discharged Inpatient Report” on his records, and there is no indication that it determined the time he spent at the hospital rose to the level of “an overnight stay” under
We further note that a number of district courts have indicated that a mere visit to a hospital emergency room is not enough to satisfy