Eight days of FMLA. A denied disability claim. A termination notice 14 days early
A federal complaint filed this week says a Nevada Gold Mines mechanic was fired during medical leave - 14 days before the employer's own paperwork deadline.
Benjamin Stucky, who worked as an Underground Mechanic at Nevada Gold Mines LLC for more than six years, sued the company on May 6, 2026 in the US District Court for the District of Nevada. He brings eight claims: tortious discharge, disability discrimination and retaliation under both Nevada law and the Americans with Disabilities Act, failure to provide reasonable accommodation under both statutes, and interference with rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
The complaint sits in territory HR teams know well. It is, at its core, a story about how a leave program was administered when a serious health condition came back.
Stucky started at Nevada Gold Mines in September 2019 and, according to the filing, advanced to Level 6 in the underground division. The complaint says he has gastroesophageal reflux disease and a related gastrointestinal impairment - a serious, recurring condition that substantially limits major life activities including digestive function and the ability to work. The condition required about three months of leave in late 2024, which the company accommodated through its short-term disability program.
It recurred on or about December 16, 2025. Stucky says the company's third-party leave administrator confirmed his FMLA eligibility but limited protected leave to eight days, designating it as protected through December 23, 2025. On or about December 24, 2025, the complaint says, Nevada Gold Mines denied his short-term disability claim. He alleges he kept the company updated on his medical status while waiting for clearance to return, and that no one engaged him on accommodations or a return-to-work plan.
Then the timing the complaint leans on hardest. On or about January 16, 2026, the filing says, the leave administrator sent Stucky an extension request that set February 5, 2026 as his deadline to submit medical certification. On or about January 22, 2026 - 14 days before that deadline - Nevada Gold Mines terminated him on what the complaint describes as "a false and pretextual basis."
There is a second thread. The complaint says that in late 2025, the company assigned Stucky to operate underground mining equipment for which he had not received adequate training. When a trainer purported to certify him on the gear, he declined to sign because he did not believe the certification reflected his actual training. That refusal anchors his tortious discharge claim, which under Nevada public policy protects workers who in good faith decline unreasonably dangerous conditions.
For HR readers, the alleged sequence is the headline: FMLA eligibility confirmed but leave capped at eight days, a short-term disability denial that the complaint says drew no accommodation dialogue, and a termination delivered inside the company's own extension window. None of it has been proven. But the pattern is the kind that lands employers in front of the EEOC every year - leave, disability and accommodation handled as separate channels rather than a connected obligation.
Stucky dual-filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Nevada Equal Rights Commission on March 13, 2026. The EEOC closed the case without findings four days later and issued a right-to-sue notice. He is seeking lost earnings, compensatory damages, emotional distress damages, liquidated damages, punitive damages and attorneys' fees, and has demanded a jury trial.
The allegations have not been tested in court. Nevada Gold Mines has not yet filed a response, and no court has ruled on the claims.
