Employee sues ADT alleging FMLA retaliation and 41-second firing call

Her healthcare provider requested a schedule adjustment to daytime hours. ADT, according to the filing, offered a schedule that included weekend work instead and declined further modification.

What makes the case especially relevant for HR leaders is what allegedly happened next with FMLA administration. The filing claims that absences taken during approved medical leave were coded in ADT’s attendance tracker as “UNSCH1” — unscheduled — at 480 minutes each, effectively counting protected leave against Moore in the company’s points-based attendance system. A corrective action that reportedly started as a verbal warning was escalated to a Final Written Warning, signed on August 21, 2025 — the same day Moore’s pregnancy-related medical leave began.

The role of Matrix Absence Management, a Tokio Marine Group company that served as ADT’s third-party claims administrator, adds another layer. The filing alleges Matrix denied Moore’s short-term disability claim for the weeks leading up to her delivery, even though she gave birth eleven days early. A second claim for postpartum depression was allegedly reviewed by an internist rather than a mental health specialist, and denied three days before the deadline Moore had been given to submit additional documentation.

The filing also alleges that Moore’s benefits records were changed without her knowledge — STD usage shifted from 35 to 56 days, and 28 days of accommodation usage appeared where none had existed.

Moore was terminated on January 29, 2026, according to the filing, by way of a 41-second phone call from a manager’s personal cell phone. She alleges she received no written notice, no COBRA information, and no Georgia separation paperwork. Her final paycheck reportedly showed gross earnings of $27.07.