Medical / Disability Leave & Failure to Provide Reasonable Accommodation
Diane—a Southern California native–was a top performing employee who needed time off due to a temporary mental/emotional disability.
Her employer refused to grant the limited reasonable accommodation and just summarily fired Diane in direct violation of the FEHA and with no interactive process.
Diane was in constant contact with her Employer and provided them all medical notes they asked for in a timely manner. Before that, HR gave her a very hard time and played games with her FMLA leave request. Diane’s employer forced her to cut her medical leave short and come back early or lose her job. Then they changed her work schedule when she came back to work. Three times she requested the same schedule as before her leave as an accommodation so she could attend her mental health treatment program. Her employer refused.
During her second medical leave she was wrongfully terminated before her last medical note was set to expire. She was told that she was terminated because her FMLA leave was exhausted as of 3 months before and was on an “unprotected” leave of absence since then.
Such terminations are illegal. Even if an employee’s 12 weeks of CFRA/FMLA leave are exhausted, employees are still entitled to additional leave as a reasonable accommodation under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act.
If you believe you have been harassed, discriminated against, or wrongfully terminated based on a protected category such as physical or mental disability or medical condition, give us a call at 310-400-5891 for your free intake.
