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When a court evaluates whether an employer has retaliated against an employee for taking medical leave, it often considers “temporal proximity”—that is, how soon an adverse action followed leave or a leave request.
Accountability

And while there is no bright-line rule for just how close those events need to be to suggest retaliation, a span of 7 months is definitely too long, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals—which covers Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee—held in Tennial v. United Parcel Service, No. 15-6356 (6th Cir. Oct. 24, 2016).

United Parcel Service doesn’t sound much like a company at the center of a massive storm in the shipping and package delivery market — though that’s exactly where it is right now.

UPS recently said it is expecting record deliveries during the holiday season, a blast of optimism that came as it also reported another strong revenue quarter. But for a year or more, the world’s largest package delivery company repeatedly has been faced with questions about one of its biggest customers, Amazon, which is amassing its own shipping fleet and delivery assets. Meanwhile, a slew of firms — most prominently Amazon, but also Uber, Lyft, Postmates and many others — are redefining the meaning of express delivery to include same-day-delivery or even quicker on-demand delivery. Also, as cross-border e-commerce booms, the international sellers UPS supports face an array of new complexities involving different languages and currencies, as well as the taxes administered in different countries.

The 1,200 mechanics who work on the planes at United Parcel Service have voted overwhelmingly to go on strike.

But a potential strike would have to overcome several hurdles — including a possible presidential order from Donald Trump to return to work.

The Railway Labor Act, which governs labor law in the airline and railroad industries, requires unions to get the approval of a federal mediator before they can go on strike. If permission is granted, they must then wait through a 30-day cooling off period before striking. And if they do strike, the president order the union back to work within minutes.