Reference no: EM131006859

An employee's job included receiving merchan- dise, finding lost delivery items, tracking outgoing packages, filing claims for UPS and Federal Express, devising shipping solutions, developing packaging materials, and formulating process improvements for assembly lines. The employee saw his job responsibilities grow substantially over time. He was given the title of Process Analyst to match his new responsibilities. The em- ployee took FMLA leave to receive treatment for gastroesophageal reflux. He had previously taken leave at least a dozen times without incident. But this time when he returned from leave, he was told to work on the keypad line. This was a production line position, and it required the employee to lift heavy boxes and manually press buttons on phone keypads to ensure the phones functioned properly. He worked in the keypad position for eight days before taking leave for esophageal surgery. When he returned to work again, he had exhausted his annual entitlement to FMLA leave. He was informed that his former Process Analyst position had been permanently phased out because of business needs, but his pay and benefits would not be affected. A manager explained that "in our service business it's hard to hold positions open when we've got to take care of customers every day. So we found a way of working through [his leaves]." The employee sued. Was he restored from leave? Discriminated against for taking leave? Explain. (Breneisen v. Motorola, 512 F.3d 972 (7th Cir. 2008))