See Whitney Laird’s complaint and KCTCS response at end of the article
A former director of financial aid and veterans services at Henderson Community College has sued the school for allegedly violating terms of an approved Family and Medical Leave Act.
According to the civil complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky in Owensboro, Whitney Laird, former director of financial aid and veterans affairs, filed her suit on Nov. 5.
Laird’s complaint states that she suffers from anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and she was approved for FMLA leave. Laird’s complaint says that after she was approved for FMLA leave, her husband died, after which she took more leave time.
After she returned to work, the complaint said she encountered a hostile work environment and blame for issues that had occurred while she was on leave, before being fired in mid-November 2024, two months after her husband died.
More specifically, Laird in May 2024 was approved for intermittent FMLA. Months later, according to the complaint, Laird was approved for leave from Sept. 18 through Oct. 6, 2024. Her husband, Chris, had died on Sept. 4, according to his obituary found online.
After that, “Laird’s condition worsened and substantially limited Laird’s major life activities of thinking, concentrating and regulating her emotions,” said the complaint.
Because of that, Laird submitted an updated FMLA request to extend her leave and was approved for intermittent FMLA leave from Oct. 7, 2024, through Jan. 7, 2025, said the complaint.
When she returned to work on Oct. 14, “Laird was met with hostility and manufactured allegations of performance issues such as ‘errors and compliance issues’ that arose while Laird was on leave,” said the complaint.
Later in the same month, Laird was having difficulty adjusting to her return to work and requested accommodation, according to the document.
“Rather than engage in the interactive process, Defendant heightened expectations for Laird and terminated Laird’s employment on or about November 12, 2024, for alleged ‘errors and compliance issues,’” the complaint stated.
The document stated that Laird never received any write ups or discipline during her employment. Additionally, she claims in the complaint that other employees “similarly situated” had been put on “Performance Improvement Plans,” “while Laird was terminated without ever being placed on a PIP.”
The lawsuit was filed against Henderson Community College and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, of which the local institution belongs. KCTCS attorneys are representing HCC.
In its response, KCTCS said that Laird is attempting to assert claims under the FMLA, American with Disabilities Act, and Kentucky Civil Rights Act, but the KCTCS denies that Laird is entitled to any relief under these statutes.
Throughout the response, the KCTCS either denies Laird’s allegations or states “KCTCS is without knowledge of sufficient information to form a belief as to the truth of these allegations and, therefore, denies them.”
In Laird’s complaint, it’s stated that she was hired by KCTCS/HCC as coordinator of financial aid on or about Aug. 1, 2016. Around July 1, 2020, Laird was promoted to the director of financial aid and veterans affairs.
The KCTCS response agrees with this. However, also in the response it is stated, “Plaintiff was not qualified for her position.”
There was no documentation provided why Laird was hired for the position if she was not qualified for it in either the complaint or response.
Neither HCC nor KCTCS responded to requests for comment.
A message from the Hendersonian was left with Dr. Jason Warren, president and CEO of HCC. He did not return a request for comment before this article was posted.
A spokesperson for KCTCS sent a brief message to the Hendersonian Friday.
“The Kentucky Community and Technical College System and Henderson Community College cannot comment on personnel matters nor on pending litigation,” wrote Blair Hess, a KCTCS spokesperson.
To the meat of Laird’s complaint, KCTCS “admits that Plaintiff was approved for intermittent leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in Spring 2024.”
But regarding Laird’s health conditions— “anxiety, depression, and PTSD”—”KCTCS is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of these allegations and, therefore, denies them for that reason.”
There was also no documentation in either the complaint or the response why Laird was granted FMLA leave if her superiors had no knowledge of her condition.
KCTCS also denied that there was hostility and manufactured allegations directed toward Laird after she returned to work on Oct. 14, 2024, through her termination on Nov. 12, 2024.
KCTCS acknowledged that Laird was fired but denied that it was for alleged “errors and compliance issues.”
The complaint by Laird, meanwhile, says that the reason given for Laird’s terminations is “pretext for disability discrimination.”
Laird claims that her treatment and subsequent termination constitutes disability discrimination and that HCC failed to accommodate her rights under the Americans with Disability Act and the Kentucky Civil Rights Act, according to the complaint. The complaint also claims that HCC retaliated against her “for exercising her rights under the FMLA by terminating her employment shortly after her return from medical leave.”
One of Laird’s attorneys, Elizabeth Gatten, of the Louisville firm Biesecker Dutkanych & Macer LLC, did not respond to a message requesting comment.
Next up in the case is a telephone conference before Magistrate Judge H. Brent Brennenstuhl at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 17, according to the case docket.
Editor’s note: The author of this article is a former employee of Henderson Community College/Kentucky Community and Technical College System.
