Hendry v. GTE North, Inc.

**What happened:** An employee named Hendry sued their employer, GTE North, Inc., claiming the company discriminated against them based on race and disability. Hendry also alleged that GTE failed to make reasonable accommodations for their disability and wrongfully fired them. Additionally, Hendry claimed the company violated the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which protects workers who need time off for medical reasons. **What the court decided:** The court reached a mixed decision. It ruled against Hendry on the race discrimination claim, finding there wasn't enough evidence to support it. However, the court allowed the disability discrimination and FMLA claims to continue to trial, determining there was sufficient evidence for these issues to be decided by a jury. **Why this matters for workers:** This case shows that workers can pursue multiple types of discrimination claims simultaneously, even if some are stronger than others. It demonstrates that courts will carefully examine each claim separately based on the available evidence. For workers facing discrimination, this ruling reinforces that disability-related claims and FMLA violations can proceed even when other discrimination claims fail, provided there's adequate evidence to support them.