State officials twice ruled the firing unjust. The complaint says Amazon's own HR knew
Amazon fired a warehouse worker with COPD while she was on approved leave, a new federal lawsuit says.
Tammy R. Dombrowsky filed suit on May 7, 2026 in the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio against Amazon.com Services, LLC, where she worked as a warehouse associate in Rossford, Ohio from March 2022 until her termination on December 10, 2024. The complaint brings claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4112, and the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Dombrowsky has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, migraine disorder, and other chronic conditions, according to the filing. Her physician signed a Healthcare Provider Request for Information form on March 28, 2024 supporting an accommodation of up to 15 absences per month, 10 hours each. Amazon approved an intermittent leave on that frequency, retroactive to July 8, 2024 and running through July 1, 2025.
Then, the complaint says, Amazon began coding her protected absences as unexcused unpaid time off, or UPT. That clashed with the company's own written attendance policy, quoted in the filing: "Amazon does not deduct UPT when absences are covered by paid time off, one of our leave of absence (LOA) policies, Accommodations Policy, or applicable law."
Dombrowsky says she flagged the problem more than once. On June 22, 2024, she told Amazon through its internal system that the company owed her about "47 hrs of UPT." On October 8, 2024, Amazon wrote back that "[a]fter further review" her "timecard has been adjusted" and her "UPT is no longer negative." Then, the filing alleges, the same miscoding started again.
The complaint also alleges, on information and belief, that two Amazon HR partners - identified only as "Tim" and "Tyler" - knew about the coding issue. Tim allegedly raised it internally. Tyler, according to the filing, told Dombrowsky her absences should have been excused and that she should not have been terminated. The filing says nothing changed.
On November 21, 2024, Amazon confirmed in writing that Dombrowsky still had approximately four weeks, 37 hours, and 46 minutes of FMLA leave remaining, the complaint says.
The end came fast. Dombrowsky alleges she left a December 8, 2024 shift early with chest pain. The filing says Amazon coded the absence as UPT. Two days later, she was turned away at the security gate. A termination email from HR partner Zac Foster followed. Amazon's internal "Supportive Feedback Document," quoted in the complaint, states: "Your current UPT balance is -127. You are expected to meet 100% of the attendance performance expectation. As a result, your employment with Amazon is being separated effective immediately."
The complaint says Amazon never met with her before firing her, never asked for updated medical documentation, and never contacted her doctor - even though Amazon's own September 3, 2024 leave notice told her updated documentation was the way to adjust her accommodation.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services twice found the discharge was without just cause, the second time on Amazon's own appeal. The factfinder wrote that Dombrowsky "provided evidence to show she had an open fmla and that attendance incidents were not being coded correctly by the system."
Dombrowsky also alleges Amazon imposed a "100% healed" return-to-work standard, which the complaint says strips out the individualized assessment the ADA requires.
For HR leaders, the case lands on three uncomfortable questions. Are automated attendance systems correctly excluding protected leave? Is the interactive process actually triggering when an accommodation looks insufficient? And when an employee repeatedly flags a problem, in writing, does the file ever close? The complaint describes a company that, by its own written records, acknowledged the coding problem and proceeded with termination anyway.
The allegations have not been tested in court. Amazon has not yet filed a response, and no court has ruled on the claims.
