What You Can Win in an FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) Case

Are you considering taking legal action against your employer for violating the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)? You may have a solid case if your employer (or former employer) refused to let you take time off, fired or disciplined you for requesting leave, forced you to come back to work before your leave should have ended, or refused to return you to your former position when you finished taking time off.

Potential remedies available to you if you win your FMLA lawsuit include getting your job back (“reinstatement”), injunctive relief, and money damages. You may also choose to settle the claim out of court, which can result in a quite hefty cash settlement depending on the extent to which your rights were violated. Before you take action, it’s important to learn a bit about the basic principles and procedures involved when initiating a lawsuit under the FMLA.

Can I Sue My Employer for Denying Me FMLA Leave?

One of the most well-known provisions of the FMLA is the requirement that employers provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to qualifying employees who need time off to attend to a medical condition, whether for themselves or their family members. (29 C.F.R. § 825.100(a) (2026).)

If your employer denied you FMLA leave without a legitimate reason, talk to your employer about reconsidering the decision. Sometimes a denial results from incomplete paperwork, a miscommunication about eligibility, or the employer not knowing enough about your FMLA rights. If your employer won't budge and you're sure you qualify for FMLA leave, you have two options: file a complaint with the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division or file a lawsuit directly in federal district court.

Can I File a Lawsuit If My Employer Denied My FMLA Leave Extension?

If you haven’t yet used up the 12 weeks that you’re entitled to under the FMLA and your employer doesn’t allow you an extension, that likely forms the basis of a lawsuit. Employers are prohibited from interfering with, restraining, or denying your exercise of any FMLA rights. (29 U.S.C. §2615 (2026).) This means an employer can't pressure you to return early, deny a properly requested leave extension, or retaliate against you for exercising your rights.

Keep in mind that while an employer can’t force you to cut your FMLA leave short, if you’ve already taken the total 12 weeks that you’re legally entitled to, you won’t have any remedy under the federal law (although your state’s equivalent FMLA might provide more protection, such as longer leave or broader coverage).

Also, in some cases, employees who have exhausted FMLA leave may have separate protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which can require employers to provide additional unpaid time off as a reasonable accommodation.

How Much Can I Get in Money Damages If I Win an FMLA Lawsuit?

If you win your FMLA lawsuit, you can ask the court to order your employer to pay you money (“damages”). Generally, damages are intended to "make you whole" from the harm you suffered as a result of your employer’s FMLA violation. Under the FMLA, courts are authorized to award several types of damages, including back pay, front pay, liquidated damages, attorney's fees, and out-of-pocket expenses.

Back Pay Damages

When you win back pay in an FMLA lawsuit, the intent is for your employer to pay you back the wages and benefits you lost as a result of your employer's FMLA violation. So if you were illegally fired for requesting FMLA leave, your damages may be equal to the salary and cost of benefits you would have received if you hadn’t been fired. Or, if you were demoted illegally, your employer may have to pay you the difference between what you earned after your demotion and what you would’ve earned if you had kept your original position.

Back pay is intended to cover the time from the date your employer violated the law (for example, by firing you) until the date judgment is issued in your favor in your FMLA lawsuit.

Front Pay Damages

Front pay is intended to reimburse you for the money you’ll lose going forward because of your employer's FMLA violation. If the court orders your employer to reinstate you immediately, you won't receive front pay (because you'll have your old job back at your former rate of pay, so you’d have no damages going forward). But if the court doesn't order reinstatement and you don't yet have a new job—despite your best efforts—your FMLA lawsuit award could include front pay for a period of time.

Liquidated Damages

Liquidated damages are intended to pay for harm that’s difficult to put a dollar amount on. (They’re similar to awards for pain and suffering or emotional distress.) These damages can include the stress you might have suffered as a result of having your leave request denied or losing your job.

You’ll get liquidated damages unless your employer can prove that the company acted in good faith when it violated your FMLA rights. Under the FMLA, courts can order your employer to pay liquidated damages equaling the total amount of your back pay and front pay awards.

Attorney and Court Fees

Your employer may have to pay your attorney’s fees for bringing the FMLA lawsuit as well as other costs associated with litigation, such as court filing fees and deposition costs.

Other Out-of-Pocket Costs

If you had to spend money as a result of your employer's FMLA violation, the court can order your employer to reimburse you. For example, let's say your employer illegally postponed your FMLA leave for surgery for three months. Your spouse was available to care for you when you should have been granted leave, but was deployed in the armed forces by the time you had your surgery. If you had to pay a caregiver to take care of you because of your employer's delay, you could ask the court to order your employer to pay you back.

What Are My Other Remedies for an FMLA Violation?

In cases involving FMLA violations by an employer, you may be entitled to a type of remedy known as "injunctive relief.” This means that the judge can order your employer not only to pay you money, but also to take (or stop taking) a particular action. For FMLA lawsuits, employees often ask the court to order that their boss grant them their time off or that their position be reinstated when they return to work after leave.

Reinstatement as Remedy in an FMLA Lawsuit

You can ask for reinstatement if your employer wouldn’t give you back your old job after you took time off, fired you because you took or asked for leave, or moved you to a job that‘s not equivalent to the one you held before you took FMLA leave. (29 U.S.C. §2617(a)(1)(B) (2026).)

For reinstatement to be sufficient relief, your employer must put you back in the job you held before you took leave or give you an “equivalent position.” And for a position to qualify as equivalent, it must be “virtually identical” to your former job in every important way, such as pay, job duties, benefits, and authority. (29 C.F.R. § 825.215(a) (2026).)

Time Off as Relief in an FMLA Lawsuit

You can ask the court for your full FMLA leave if your employer’s FMLA violation included either denying your request for leave or not letting you take all the time off you were legally entitled to.

FMLA Lawsuit Settlement Amounts

Most lawsuits settle before trial, and suits involving FMLA violations are no exception. The exact amount of the settlement can vary widely depending on the strength of your evidence, duration of lost wages, interest, and other factors.

What’s the Average Settlement Amount?

Because settlement terms aren’t always publicly disclosed, it’s difficult to arrive at an average settlement amount for all FMLA claims. Based on private insurance companies’ surveys and internal records, settlements can range from several thousand to over one million dollars.

FMLA Retaliation Settlements

Cases of retaliation often settle for significantly more money since they involve an employer punishing you for engaging in a legally protected activity.

How Long Does it Take to Get a Settlement?

There isn’t a fixed timeline for getting an FMLA settlement. Your case may take several months (if it’s reasonably straightforward) or several years (if very complex).

Tax Implications of Receiving an FMLA Settlement

Generally, any money you receive as damages from an FMLA settlement or successful court case will be taxable as wages according to the IRS.

What’s the Statute of Limitations on FMLA Violations?

You have two years since the date after the last violation to sue your employer under the FMLA, or three years if your employer committed a “willful violation” (meaning your employer knew their actions violated the statute but engaged in them anyway). (29 U.S.C. § 2617(c)(1)(2026).)

Additional Remedies Under State FMLA and Labor Laws

In addition to suing your employer over federal FMLA violations and retaliation, you might also sue them for violating state laws that entitle you to take time off or protect you from wrongful termination.

A lawsuit based on violations of state labor laws might allow you to get damages for your emotional distress—the pain, suffering, and anguish you went through as a result of your employer's illegal actions. And an employer’s violation of state employment laws can sometimes result in "punitive damages"—an award intended to punish your employer for the company’s shameful disregard for the law.

Getting Legal Help With Your FMLA Case

If you're thinking about filing a lawsuit against your employer, you should consider talking to an FMLA lawyer. An experienced attorney can assess whether the facts and the law are on your side and explain your chances of winning in court (or estimate the amount of your settlement).

Your lawyer can explain which laws apply to your situation and what you could win if you sue your employer over FMLA violations or for breaking other employment laws. Learn more about your job protections under the FMLA and the laws in your state.