An employee who added to a physician’s statement certifying her serious health condition for purposes of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act can be properly denied FMLA leave and disciplined for her absences, even though she would have been entitled to the leave without the alteration, the Seventh Circuit holds.

“[W]here an employee adds to a medical care provider’s certification form a condition that she has not been diagnosed with, without the knowledge or approval of her physician, an employer can deny her request for FMLA leave,” says the Court. However, the Court goes on to emphasize the “limited nature” of its ruling, since this particular case indicated that the employee not only altered the physician’s statement, she also backdated the form and submitted a second form that her doctor never filled out or signed. “We obviously do not reach the question of whether other, more insignificant alterations, such as correcting a typographical error or correcting or adding to a portion of the form with the knowledge and approval of a treating physician, would result in a similar ruling,” the Court says. “Nor, because there was only a single attempt to submit certification paperwork in this case, do we need to consider the result if an employee re-submitted authentic, unaltered paperwork certifying her request for leave after first submitting altered, false documentation.” Smith v. The Hope School