Under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), employers are required to allow employees 12 weeks of unpaid leave annually due to personal illnesses or immediate family issues such as pregnancy. Yesterday, in Coleman v. Court of Appeals of Maryland, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled by a 5-to-4 vote that state employers cannot be sued for violating the sick leave provision of the FMLA.

In 2003, the Court held in Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs that state employers could be sued for violating the FMLA provision granting employees unpaid leave relating to immediate family issues. The Court’s main concern in deciding Hibbs was preventing states from discriminating on the basis of sex. In Coleman, however, the Court found no widespread evidence of sex discrimination in the administration of sick leave. As a result, the majority found no reason to pierce states’ immunity from civil lawsuits alleging violations of the FMLA sick leave provision.

Justice Ginsburg noted in her dissent in Coleman that private employers are still subject to civil liability for violating the FMLA’s sick leave provision and that other legal remedies exist when state employers violate it.