29 U.S.C. § 2615
Section 2615 · Prohibited acts
This is § 105 of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 1,346 court decisions — leading case Ragsdale v. Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (2002)
Most recently applied in Tonya Huber v. Westar Foods, Inc. (May 2025)
Applied most in the First Circuit Circuit (75 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 29 U.S.C. § 2612 · 29 U.S.C. § 2601 · 29 U.S.C. § 2611
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(1) Exercise of rights
It shall be unlawful for any employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under this subchapter.
(2) Discrimination
It shall be unlawful for any employer to discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any individual for opposing any practice made unlawful by this subchapter.
It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any individual because such individual—
(1) has filed any charge, or has instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding, under or related to this subchapter;
(2) has given, or is about to give, any information in connection with any inquiry or proceeding relating to any right provided under this subchapter; or
(3) has testified, or is about to testify, in any inquiry or proceeding relating to any right provided under this subchapter.