In Bosley v. Cargill Meat Solutions, Tanya Bosley worked for Cargill for several years. During that time, she missed work on occasion and called in using the employer's automated call-in procedure to inform the company of absences. The call-in policy provided that an employee must call in each day, and that three consecutive violations of the call-in procedure would result in termination as a voluntary quit. On February 1, however, Bosley was absent and did not call in; indeed, she missed work the entire month and never used the call-in procedure at all. In late February, Bosley's new supervisor contacted Human Resources to inquire about her, and discovered that no one had any information regarding her absence. As a result, Bosley's employment was terminated on February 27. On March 3, Bosley returned and requested retroactive FMLA leave for the month of February. The employer rejected the request, and Bosley sued alleging violation of the FMLA claiming that she was incapacitated by depression and unable to notify her employer of her need for leave until March 3. She admitted during deposition, however, that she was no longer incapacitated around February 15. In dismissing her suit, the federal Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Bosley failed to provide adequate notice of her need for FMLA leave, and she offered no extraordinary circumstances to justify her delay in notice.
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