FMLA – Carrier Violation Penalty Claims

During the course of the entire FMLA fiasco wherein the Carrier was unilaterally requiring employees to take paid vacation and personal leave days in lieu of FMLA leave the General Committee was encouraging members to file a penalty claim for each day so affected (see articles here and here).  Hopefully everyone followed these instructions, because those claims just may come to a positive fruition.   

As you are by now aware (see article posted here), the Organizations have prevailed both in the court system and at arbitration in this dispute.  The only remaining issue is to determine the proper remedy for the Carriers' violations.  The Organizations contend a penalty day’s pay is appropriate for each day the employee(s) were denied their contractual right to schedule their own vacation and/or personal leave days (assuming the employee submitted his/her claim in a timely fashion).  The Carriers contend that no penalty is warranted because, according to them anyway, they “…acted in good faith.”  If any penalty is appropriate, the Carriers argue, the affected employees should be given unpaid leave in reparation for the paid leave they were forced to take as FMLA leave… a resolution the Organizations find totally unacceptable.