DISCLAIMER:  Any unofficial case summaries below are prepared by the clerk's office
                        as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.

033822P.pdf   04/11/2005  Sandra Throneberry  v.  McGehee Desha Cty.
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  03-3822
   Eastern District of Arkansas   
   Civil case - Family Medical Leave Act. The Family Medical Leave Act 
   of 1993 does not mandate strict liability for employers in all cases in 
   which an employer interferes with an employee's Family Medical Leave 
   Act rights; if the employer can prove it would have made the same 
   decision had the employee not exercised the FMLA rights, the employer 
   is not liable for the interference; applying this principle, the district 
   court properly instructed the jury on plaintiff's interference claim and 
   correctly placed the burden on the employer to prove it would have discharged 
   plaintiff regardless of her taking FMLA leave; evidence supported jury's 
   finding plaintiff would have been fired had she not exercised her rights. 
   [PUBLISHED] [Riley, Author, with J. Gibson and Gruender, Circuit Judges]