Her doctors had to write notes for four days off - even when she needed fewer
A Customer Service Agent says American Airlines forced her onto medical leave instead of accommodating her disabilities, then retaliated after she testified.
The agent has worked at the airline's Dallas-Fort Worth location since February 2015, according to a complaint filed July 28, 2026, in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas. She is still employed there. The filing says she has Lupus and asthma, conditions that affect her immune system and breathing, and that she can do her job with reasonable accommodations.
The case centers on a core duty under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The law expects employers to engage in an "interactive process" - a good-faith back-and-forth to find a workable accommodation. The complaint alleges American Airlines skipped that step as a matter of policy and never told the agent she could request accommodations. Instead, it says, managers steered her toward FMLA leave whenever her health flared.
The filing alleges the airline enforced a "100% work or no work" rule that left no room for modified duties or schedules. According to the complaint, a Time and Attendance manager told her, "we don't have light duties or ADA accommodations." It says that stance held for years.
The mechanics draw the sharpest HR lessons. The complaint alleges the airline's Medical Leave of Absence program required at least four consecutive days off to qualify, so a shorter disability absence drew attendance points. The agent says she asked her doctors to write notes for four days even when she needed fewer, just to avoid a penalty. One absence she logged as "sickness" in July 2023 drew a point anyway, according to the filing.
It also alleges a series of FMLA errors, including counting an entire 19-hour split-shift day as leave rather than her actual time away, and requiring a 366-day wait for hours to replenish instead of 365.
The retaliation claim stems from her joining the case. The complaint says the agent was added as a plaintiff in February 2025 and gave a deposition that April, after which the airline's engagement became "hostile" - heavier documentation demands, a suggestion of reassignment, then long silences. It alleges an ADA specialist told her in October 2025, "We simply disagree with you," and, when a proposed commuter shuttle would not cover her overtime hours, suggested she pay for an Uber. The filing says she still has no accommodation.
For HR leaders, the through-line is clear. A blanket refusal to accommodate, a habit of defaulting to FMLA in place of a genuine interactive process, and attendance systems that penalize disability-related absences are the kinds of practices the ADA is built to scrutinize. The complaint brings failure-to-accommodate and retaliation claims and seeks an injunction along with damages, including punitive damages.
None of the allegations have been tested, and no court has ruled.
