Opinion
Case No. C06-855RSL.
May 10, 2007
ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION
This matter comes before the Court on plaintiff's "Motion for Reconsideration Re: Overlooked Evidence and Argument on FMLA Summary Judgment" (Dkt. #69). Plaintiff requests that the Court modify the portion of its April 20, 2007 order granting defendants' motion for summary judgment on her interference with FMLA rights claim. Order at p. 9 (Dkt. #68). Motions for reconsideration are disfavored in this district and will be granted only upon a "showing of manifest error in the prior ruling" or "new facts or legal authority which could not have been brought to [the Court's] attention earlier without reasonable diligence." Local Civil Rule 7(h)(1). After reviewing the parties' briefing on plaintiff's FMLA claim, the Court grants plaintiff's motion for reconsideration.
A plaintiff "need only prove by a preponderance of the evidence that her taking of FMLA-protected leave constituted a negative factor in the decision to terminate her." Bachelder v. America West Airlines, Inc., 259 F.3d 1112, 1125 (9th Cir. 2001). While plaintiff neglected to cite to legal authority in support of her FMLA claim in her original response, she did raise disputed issues of material fact on the question of whether defendants considered her past and future exercise of FMLA-protected leave as a "negative factor" in the decision to terminate her employment. As such, plaintiff's motion for reconsideration (Dkt. #69) is GRANTED. Plaintiff may pursue her interference with FMLA rights claim at trial.