A federal jury in Spartanburg has awarded $308,000 in damages to a former Spartanburg Community College biology professor who claimed the institution fired him in retaliation for taking protected medical leave to care for his ailing father.
The plaintiff, Dr. Chipley Bennett, had been employed at the college for 24 years before losing his position in 2023. He had requested leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act to travel to Florida when his 93-year-old father required emergency surgery. Bennett left earlier than originally expected when a family member became unavailable to take his father to the hospital. He arranged for a student intern to cover his classes and notified his supervisor that he would miss an evening event. Once he was informed of the college’s inquiries, he formally filed for FMLA leave through human resources, which was initially approved and compensated.
Spartanburg Community College subsequently launched an internal investigation into the leave request, concluding that Bennett had failed to provide adequate advance notice. The college terminated his employment several months after he returned. The jury rejected that reasoning, finding instead that the institution had retaliated against Bennett for exercising his FMLA rights.
Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, eligible employees are entitled to up to 12 weeks of protected leave per year for qualifying medical situations, including care for an immediate family member. Employers are prohibited from interfering with those rights or retaliating against workers who use them. Damages in proven retaliation cases can include lost wages, benefits, attorney fees, and liquidated damages that double the wage award. The court must still determine whether to apply liquidated damages, which would raise the total to $616,000, along with attorney fee awards that could add hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The verdict, handed down in late April 2026, adds to a recent string of employment rights judgments in the Upstate. Plaintiff’s attorney Jeff Dunlaevy represented Bennett throughout the case. For local employers, the outcome underscores the legal exposure tied to post-leave termination decisions, particularly when leave approvals have already been granted by human resources.
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24 years of service and this is how it ends — fired for taking two days to help his elderly father after emergency surgery. The jury got it right. FMLA exists for exactly this reason.
Every HR department in the Upstate should be reading this case. Approving the leave, then firing the employee months later — that is textbook retaliation under the law. Costly lesson.
The liquidated damages possibility is significant. If the court doubles it to 16,000 plus attorney fees, the total exposure for SCC could easily exceed a million dollars. Taxpayers foot that bill.
Important case for community college employees across South Carolina. The FMLA emergency notice standard is more lenient than many employers realize — you notify as soon as practicable, not 30 days out.
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