As far as employment laws go, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is one of the most complicated, as one company found out when it made a common mistake.

The mistake? Misreporting the amount of leave time an employee had left to take.

Here’s how the case shook out:

Legal secretary Vanessa McFadden filed a lawsuit against her company, claiming it had interfered with her FMLA rights.

McFadden, whose husband had recently been diagnosed with cancer, alleged the company had mistakenly told her she had less FMLA time than she did. As a result, she said she’d taken less leave and instead paid her sister to take care of her husband.

It turned out McFadden was right – the company had made a mistake in determining her leave time, and admitted it to her. But it also claimed it wasn’t at fault – it never denied FMLA leave to her when she requested it.

No dice, the court told the company. All McFadden had to prove was that the company had interfered with her rights to take leave, and that she’d lost money providing alternative care – which she’d done by paying her sister.

The takeaway: You have to be very precise in communicating entitlements to eligible employees. Any misinformation, even given innocently, can be enough to support a claim against your company.

Cite: McFadden v. Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll