With the ACLU's help in 1995, Kevin Knussman sued his employer, the Maryland State Police, to get family leave to care for his ailing wife, Kim (right

Kevin Knussman arrived home in January 1995 at 3:30 a.m. from a night shift to the sound of his newborn daughter, Paige, wailing.

The Maryland State Police paramedic from Easton rushed to her and found his wife, Kim, in the same room, so overcome with exhaustion that she didn't hear Paige's cries.

Kim was suffering from pre-eclampsia, a disorder that occurs during pregnancy and postpartum. Symptoms include high blood pressure, headaches and changes in vision. Clearly, both mother and baby needed Knussman to stay home and be the family's primary caregiver.
When he asked for extended leave, the state police denied the request, even though a federal law had recently been passed giving all workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave. A Maryland law also allowed "primary care providers" up to 30 days of paid leave after the birth or adoption of a baby.

The police gave Knussman 10 leave days and said that if he took another day off he would be declared absent without leave. Stuck between the cares of home and the demands of work, Knussman didn't take another day off.

Instead, he took his employer to court.

His case was among the first gender-discrimination cases filed under the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, which at the time was viewed as a protection for women who need time off after the birth or adoption of a child.

"He didn't fit the stereotype of what people may have thought the law was about," said Jocelyn Frye, general counsel for the National Partnership for Women and Families. "His case put a face on the [FMLA] and made it a family issue."

Knussman became known as Trooper Dad. By the time the 1995 ACLU-assisted lawsuit went to trial in 1999, Paige was almost 5.

Three years later, Knussman was awarded $40,000 for emotional distress and an undisclosed six-figure amount in attorney's fees. To Knussman's supporters, equally important as the money was the fact that the case illustrated that the FMLA could not be ignored.

"It shows employers have to take these laws seriously," said Laura Kessler, an associate law professor at the University of Utah.

The man who spent 23 years as a state trooper, mostly as a helicopter paramedic, has since retired. Paige, now a preteen, recently won a contest to be an honorary batgirl during an Orioles game. His wife recovered long ago from her ailment. And the Knussmans had no family-leave worries when their now-10-year-old daughter, Hope, was born.

As he looks back on his battle, Knussman acknowledges mixed emotions. "I wouldn't condemn anyone else for not going through it," he said. "It's hard to fight the state, the government, because they have unlimited resources."

Knussman, who now works as a paramedic seven days a month, relishes the nationwide support he received. He still receives e-mails from people seeking to challenge employers for family leave permission.

Source:www.baltimoresun.com