Terminated county employee brought action against county and supervisors, alleging termination violated Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Title VII, and Ohio state law. County and supervisors moved for judgment on pleadings.
The District Court held that:
- Under Ohio law, county was not an “agency of…a political subdivision of a State,” as would fall within definition of a “public agency” under FLSA and therefore constitute an “employer” subject to suit under FMLA;
- Term “the government of,” as used in provision of FLSA defining a “public agency,” as would constitute an “employer” subject to suit under the FMLA, to include “the government of a State or political subdivision thereof” applies to both the term “State” and the term “political subdivision thereof,” as opposed to only applying to the term “State,” and therefore a political subdivision itself is not a public agency under that provision;
- Under Ohio law, county was not the “government of a State or political subdivision thereof,” as would fall within definition of a “public agency” under FLSA and therefore constitute an “employer” subject to suit under FMLA; and
- Court would decline to grant employee leave to amend pleadings.