A longtime employee of American Greetings Corporation has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court here claiming the company has violated his rights under the federal Family Medical Leave Act.

Roger Ward filed the lawsuit on Oct. 8 seeking an unspecified amount of damages.

American Greetings filed an answer on Dec. 30, denying the allegations, stating that it did not violate any law, and seeking dismissal of the case.

Also named as a defendant in both the complaint and answer is Matrix Absence Management Inc., the FMLA coordinator for American Greetings.

Ward's complaint states that for many years he has suffered from chronic diabetes, hypertension and its various complications.

He has been an employee of the company since Aug. 22, 1973, according to the complaint.

In May 2007, the complaint says, Ward received a letter stating that the company's coordinator of FMLA benefits would be changed to Matrix.

Ward claims that he was informed in June 2007 that FMLA he requested from June 16, 2007, through October 2007 would be denied, "despite the fact that, in form and substance, it was the exact same benefit for which plaintiff had applied in previous years," according to the complaint.

This resulted in Ward having 45 days of non-excused absences, and his pay grade was decreased by 44 cents per hour, the complaint stated.

He is seeking reinstatement of his pay grade, lost wages and other related costs.