Mr. Jim Dotson

Jim Dotson hugs his daughter Aselya, 7, outside their home. Pfizer, for whom Dotson worked, fired him days after he adopted Aselya.
...
RALEIGH -- Jim Dotson spent the past six years seeking the truth, not only from his employer who he charged wrongly fired him, but for himself and his family.

In October, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his former employer's appeal, handing Dotson a victory even as it cost him his career, his home and most of his life savings.

Once a fast-rising division salesman for Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company based in New York, Dotson was fired in 2003. The firing came just days after he and his wife, Ann, returned to Raleigh from Russia with a 13-month-old adopted baby girl with chronic upper respiratory infections.

Pfizer claimed he was terminated because Dotson gave the Russian orphanage 24rounds of pediatric Zithromax, an anti biotic used to clear up ear and respiratory infections. The exchange, Pfizer argued, put the company at risk by giving the appearance of "quid pro quo," essentially a bribe for the baby.

Stunned by the charges, Dotson sued the drug maker under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
...
Although Dotson has not yet received his award, $662,858 plus attorney fees, he and his wife are planning an adoption celebration party they had hoped to have when they brought Aselya (ah-SEEL-ya) home from Russia.

Their brown-eyed girl recently turned 7. She is an intelligent and affectionate first-grader at Endeavor Charter School.

Dotson is now realizing that his real victory lies with her and the blessings she has brought him.

The job owned him

Jim and Ann Dotson met as undergraduates at UNC-Chapel Hill, married in 1986 and began a life together that resembled the best of the American dream.
...
Jim made a handsome living, earning $250,000 a year before bonuses. He had stock options, a retirement annuity, a company car, a top-of-the-line computer.

The one thing he didn't have was time with his children.

"I was not able to be involved in anything outside of Pfizer," Dotson said.
...
Jim took the lead with the adoption, filling out countless documents and having them notarized.

In August 2003, the couple learned they had been matched with a girl born several weeks prematurely and suffering from respiratory infections.

Elated, Dotson told his boss and co-workers of his approaching trip to Russia and mentioned that he might want to take some samples of Zithromax to give to the orphanage doctor so he could better treat his future daughter and other children. No one raised any concerns, Dotson said. In fact, he got overwhelming support, as his co-workers later testified.

Wanting to steer clear of Russian customs agents, Dotson even typed a letter on Pfizer letterhead saying he was bringing a "gift" of Zithromax for "humanitarian aid."

"I dotted my I's and crossed my T's," Dotson said.

Pfizer was going through a merger with Pharmacia, and his boss cut him no slack, Dotson said. He took his laptop with him to Russia and worked at Internet cafes. Dotson didn't think much of it. He had been with the company for nearly 15years, and he would weather the storm.

His family was now complete. He couldn't wait to introduce Aselya to her siblings back home.

Adoption altered things

But the adoption changed the dynamics at work. Five days after arriving home Dotson was asked to show up for an overnight meeting in Charlotte, despite having asked for the time off to be with his daughter, as e-mail correspondence shows.

Two weeks after gaining custody of Aselya, Dotson was called to a meeting at a Raleigh hotel. He was being fired, he was told, because he used Pfizer resources for personal gain.

Company executives stripped him of his laptop and his company car. Shocked and confused, he called his pastor and asked him to drive him home.

"I couldn't sleep for two weeks," Dotson said.

After meeting with a lawyer, Dotson made the eventful decision to sue.

In looking back he said he did so for the sake of his children. He wanted to teach them that "life is not fair, but how we choose to respond is critical."

He was also soul-searching. The loss of his job forced him to see what was really important.
...
Dotson and his lawyers understood that the big company would fight hard to drain him of his money, if not his patience. But Dotson's lawyer had a strategy. The Family Medical Leave Act provides 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave, for, among other things, the adoption of a child. Dotson had documented e-mail messages showing his bosses were hostile to his requests for time off for the adoption.
...
Coincidentally, they added, Pfizer trusted Dotson with several cases of Viagra samples.
...
It took the jury three hours to find Pfizer liable for firing Dotson.

"The asserted reasons for firing him were not believed by the jury, or by Mr. Dotson's co-workers," Barrett said.
...
"They were not believed by Mr. Dotson, and finally, they were not believable."
...
But Dotson prefers to see his victory from a personal rather than a legal angle. He's spending more time at home, helping his eldest, Hillary, 17, apply for college. He's there to help Bennett, 15, and Hunter, 13, with their homework. Last week, he showed up as the "mystery reader" at Aselya's first-grade classroom where he read the book "You Are Special" to the students.

"I didn't realize what I was missing before," said Dotson, who now works as an independent consultant helping companies and church groups with leadership training and development.
...
Dotson fought back and won.

Jim Dotson hugs his daughter Aselya, 7, outside their home. Pfizer, for whom Dotson worked, fired him days after he adopted Aselya.
...
RALEIGH -- Jim Dotson spent the past six years seeking the truth, not only from his employer who he charged wrongly fired him, but for himself and his family.

In October, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his former employer's appeal, handing Dotson a victory even as it cost him his career, his home and most of his life savings.

Once a fast-rising division salesman for Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company based in New York, Dotson was fired in 2003. The firing came just days after he and his wife, Ann, returned to Raleigh from Russia with a 13-month-old adopted baby girl with chronic upper respiratory infections.

Pfizer claimed he was terminated because Dotson gave the Russian orphanage 24rounds of pediatric Zithromax, an anti biotic used to clear up ear and respiratory infections. The exchange, Pfizer argued, put the company at risk by giving the appearance of "quid pro quo," essentially a bribe for the baby.

Stunned by the charges, Dotson sued the drug maker under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
...
Although Dotson has not yet received his award, $662,858 plus attorney fees, he and his wife are planning an adoption celebration party they had hoped to have when they brought Aselya (ah-SEEL-ya) home from Russia.

Their brown-eyed girl recently turned 7. She is an intelligent and affectionate first-grader at Endeavor Charter School.

Dotson is now realizing that his real victory lies with her and the blessings she has brought him.

The job owned him

Jim and Ann Dotson met as undergraduates at UNC-Chapel Hill, married in 1986 and began a life together that resembled the best of the American dream.
...
Jim made a handsome living, earning $250,000 a year before bonuses. He had stock options, a retirement annuity, a company car, a top-of-the-line computer.

The one thing he didn't have was time with his children.

"I was not able to be involved in anything outside of Pfizer," Dotson said.
...
Jim took the lead with the adoption, filling out countless documents and having them notarized.

In August 2003, the couple learned they had been matched with a girl born several weeks prematurely and suffering from respiratory infections.

Elated, Dotson told his boss and co-workers of his approaching trip to Russia and mentioned that he might want to take some samples of Zithromax to give to the orphanage doctor so he could better treat his future daughter and other children. No one raised any concerns, Dotson said. In fact, he got overwhelming support, as his co-workers later testified.

Wanting to steer clear of Russian customs agents, Dotson even typed a letter on Pfizer letterhead saying he was bringing a "gift" of Zithromax for "humanitarian aid."

"I dotted my I's and crossed my T's," Dotson said.

Pfizer was going through a merger with Pharmacia, and his boss cut him no slack, Dotson said. He took his laptop with him to Russia and worked at Internet cafes. Dotson didn't think much of it. He had been with the company for nearly 15years, and he would weather the storm.

His family was now complete. He couldn't wait to introduce Aselya to her siblings back home.

Adoption altered things

But the adoption changed the dynamics at work. Five days after arriving home Dotson was asked to show up for an overnight meeting in Charlotte, despite having asked for the time off to be with his daughter, as e-mail correspondence shows.

Two weeks after gaining custody of Aselya, Dotson was called to a meeting at a Raleigh hotel. He was being fired, he was told, because he used Pfizer resources for personal gain.

Company executives stripped him of his laptop and his company car. Shocked and confused, he called his pastor and asked him to drive him home.

"I couldn't sleep for two weeks," Dotson said.

After meeting with a lawyer, Dotson made the eventful decision to sue.

In looking back he said he did so for the sake of his children. He wanted to teach them that "life is not fair, but how we choose to respond is critical."

He was also soul-searching. The loss of his job forced him to see what was really important.
...
Dotson and his lawyers understood that the big company would fight hard to drain him of his money, if not his patience. But Dotson's lawyer had a strategy. The Family Medical Leave Act provides 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave, for, among other things, the adoption of a child. Dotson had documented e-mail messages showing his bosses were hostile to his requests for time off for the adoption.
...
Coincidentally, they added, Pfizer trusted Dotson with several cases of Viagra samples.
...
It took the jury three hours to find Pfizer liable for firing Dotson.

"The asserted reasons for firing him were not believed by the jury, or by Mr. Dotson's co-workers," Barrett said.
...
"They were not believed by Mr. Dotson, and finally, they were not believable."
...
But Dotson prefers to see his victory from a personal rather than a legal angle. He's spending more time at home, helping his eldest, Hillary, 17, apply for college. He's there to help Bennett, 15, and Hunter, 13, with their homework. Last week, he showed up as the "mystery reader" at Aselya's first-grade classroom where he read the book "You Are Special" to the students.

"I didn't realize what I was missing before," said Dotson, who now works as an independent consultant helping companies and church groups with leadership training and development.
...
Jim Dotson spent the past six years seeking the truth, not only from his employer who he charged wrongly fired him, but for himself and his family.

The appeals court panel rejected Pfizer's argument that it could not retaliate against plaintiff James Dotson for taking two adoption-related leaves because he never actually applied for leave under the FMLA.
...
Dotson worked in various sales and management positions at Pfizer for about 15 years before his 2003 firing. His performance ratings were good during that time, the complaint said.

In 2003 he and his wife made two trips to Russia to adopt a child. According to his lawsuit, Dotson kept Pfizer informed concerning his need for time off to complete the adoption, and no one at the company told him he could not make the trips.

However, Dotson was fired less than three weeks after returning from Russia with his newly adopted daughter.

The company said his performance had slipped and he had misused physician's sample drugs packets by passing along the antibiotic Zithromax to an orphanage in Russia, the opinion says.

Dotson explained that it was customary to bring gifts for the orphanage when seeking an adoption. However, Pfizer said the gift violated company guidelines for the use of the sample packets because his donation amounted to a quid pro quo with the orphanage, according to the opinion.

Dotson sued Pfizer in 2004 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. He said the company interfered with the exercise of his FMLA rights and retaliated against him for taking leave.

After an eight-day trial in 2006 a jury found that Pfizer had interfered with Dotson's FMLA rights and discharged him in retaliation for exercising those rights.

It awarded him $666,000, including $333,000 in liquidated damages.

Pfizer and Dotson appealed to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed in part and remanded.

The appeals panel found sufficient evidence to support the jury's findings that Pfizer had interfered with Dotson's FMLA rights and that Dotson incurred actual damages (including the loss of paid vacation time) as a result.

James Dotson worked at Pfizer for approximately 15 years. He was terminated shortly after he and his wife returned from
...
As part of his training as a sales representative, Dotson was instructed in the proper handling of product sample packs called "starters.
...
However, at the time Dotson was fired, the company failed to provide specific details of its standards for discharge.

In early 2003, Dotson and his family began working with an adoption agency to adopt a child from Russia . Dotson spoke with Pfizer HR rep Amy Burnell about taking leave during the adoption process.
...
Testimony differed about what Burnell told Dotson regarding the applicability of FMLA benefits and his intention to use accrued vacation time. Apparently, she referred him to another HR officer, whom Dotson never contacted.

Dotson used accrued vacation time to take his first trip to
...
Dotson ultimately found out he was eligible to adopt. When he learned it was customary to bring gifts for the orphanage, he decided to obtain a case of Zithromax (an antibiotic) starters to present as a gift to the orphanage in Russia

During a performance review shortly after his first trip, Dotson's two immediate supervisors informed him that they were unhappy with his job performance and expressed concern about his use of the Zithromax. Dotson later contacted the regional HR director, Ann Hodges, to discuss the negative performance review.
...
After speaking with Hodges, Dotson left with his wife for a second trip to
...
Dotson was terminated on November 11, 2003 - less than three weeks after he and his wife returned from Russia with their adopted child.

District court proceeding In September 2004, Dotson filed an FMLA retaliation claim. To prevail, he had to introduce evidence linking the adverse employment action taken against him to a "protected activity," which he claimed was his request for adoption-related leave.

Dotson claimed that his termination was based on false reasons and showed that Pfizer retaliated against him because of his leave request. Specifically, he claimed that the starter issue was used as a pretext to fire him and that the policy against his use of the starters was unknown to anyone outside the group responsible for his termination.

Dotson contended that Pfizer management knew about his trip to
...
On appeal, Pfizer argued that because Dotson didn't formally request FMLA leave, a rational jury couldn't hold it liable for retaliating against him for exercising his FMLA rights. It also argued that he had no evidence of any retaliatory animus by the individuals who decided to fire him and that there was no evidence that the firing was based on false reasons.

The court of appeals found that the request for leave constituted protected activity. It emphasized that Dotson gave Pfizer adequate notice of his need for leave during the adoption process. After he provided that information, the burden shifted to Pfizer to determine whether he was requesting FMLA leave. The court found that Pfizer never inquired whether his adoption-related leave was protected under the FMLA. The court rejected the company's argument that Dotson couldn't have engaged in protected activity because he never asked for FMLA leave. According to the court:

Pfizer's legal argument would allow it to use its own failure to determine whether leave should be designated as FMLA-protected to block liability for retaliation. We decline to allow an employer to take advantage of its own lapse in such a way. The court concluded that Dotson produced sufficient evidence for a jury to find both retaliatory animus and pretext. It found that Pfizer's starter policies weren't so clearly drawn that Dotson's handling of the product was obviously wrong.
...
The court emphasized that neither Kennedy nor McElerney was disciplined for failing to stop Dotson.
...
Compounding matters, it's quite possible that no one in Pfizer management involved in the decision to terminate Dotson knew that he had sought to exercise rights that might be covered under the FMLA.

Jim Dotson
...
Jim Dotson

Jim Dotson is consistently recognized by customers and colleagues for the passion, energy, and wisdom that characterize his work in the areas of leadership development, coaching, sales training and teamwork. Jim brings practical experience and insight gained from 20 years of management / leadership experience in consumer products, finance, education, and the pharmaceutical industry. The practical experience is complemented by his corporate training experience in which he trained corporate leaders representing various areas of functionality â€" both nationally and internationally.

Today, Jim’s strong leadership, training and facilitation skills are recognized by both the corporate clients he works with and the non-profit organizations in which he serves. Jim currently serves in leadership roles with non-profit organizations and consults with and serves as a developer/ facilitator/ trainer and consultant for orporations.

Jim has a passion for helping both corporations and non-profit organizations to be effective stewards of their human resources and to increase the efficiency of their operations.

Professional Accomplishments:

As a Regional and District Sales Manager for Pfizer, Jim earned the corporations’ top sales and leadership awards. Jim was consistently recognized for the leadership of high-performing teams characterized by sales success and the development of people for greater responsibility. Jim is known for his ability to create a clear vision and inspire a team to enthusiastically pursue the vision, goals and strategies which lead to organizational results.

Most recently Jim has worked as a consultant and employee with state government agencies, higher education, telecommunications and IT clients, and several of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies: GSK, Merck, Amgen, Roche and Novo Nordisk. Mr. Dotson has been involved in the development, facilitation, and implementation of various skill-based and leadership training programs to include: marketing training, change management, leadership vs. management, leveraging the strengths of your team, facilitation skills, presentation skills, targeted selection - interviewing skills, coaching, and performance management skills.

Mr. Dotson’s leadership fosters a culture characterized by teamwork, trust, and respect in which individual’s personal and professional goals are achieved, individual talents identified and leveraged, and the organizations thrive.

Jim’s corporate leadership experience is mirrored in his work with non-profit organizations helping them to be effective stewards of their human resources and to increase the efficiency of their operations.

Jim is certified to teach several corporate training programs to include: Situational Leadership II, Fierce Conversations, Coaching Skills and Targeted Selection.

Jim earned a B.S. Degree in Business Administration from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business, UNC-Chapel Hill.

Jim Dotson Consultant