Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Hello,

A much more significant protection available to disabled or ill employees is FEHA (California Fair Employment and Housing Act) which requires employer to engage in interactive process and provide reasonable accommodations to employee who suffer from a serious medical condition. Thus, just because FMLA or other kinds of leave are not available doesn't mean that the employer doesn't have to comply with FEHA obligations which are strictly enforced. Whether FEHA applied to your situation and whether the employer violated the law depends on a number of facts and other details that are not clear from your question.

Thanks, and feel free to follow up.

Arkady Itkin

San Francisco & Sacramento Employment Lawyer

If and when you are denied legally protected leave, or are illegally discriminated or retaliated against because of requesting or taking the leave, or you are refused accommodation, then you can consider legal claims.

If your CA employer has at least 5 employees, they can not fire you because you are pregnant, must allow you to continue working as long as you are able, must 'reasonably' accommodate your disability, and must allow up to 4 months of unpaid pregnancy leave under FEHA.

If your CA employer has at least 50 employees, and you are employed for at least 12 months, have at least 1,250 hours worked in the 12 months prior to the leave, then you would be eligible for 12 weeks of unpaid FMLA / CFRA maternity / medical leave when you are unable to work [or must care for an immediate family member] because of a �serious health condition� that is properly confirmed and documented by your doctor, continuation of group health benefits, restoration to the same or an equivalent job upon return to work, with accrued benefits. The leave may be taken on reasonable intermittent basis if that need is properly documented by your medical provider.

If you qualify for both, you get both. If you are out longer than those guarantees, they can fire you.

If your company has a policy requiring they hold your job for you for a specific period of time while on disability, that is enforceable.

Overriding those stated protections, just because you are on leave does not mean you can�t be terminated. You have no special exemption against lay offs or termination due to business reasons. A company in downsizing can lay off a FMLA leave person, as long as they can show they aren�t targeting �because of the leave�. They are simply risking claims if they do.

Upon termination from employment, you are entitled to COBRA conversion of your medical benefits [if any], allowing you to pay for and retain your insurance coverage.

Now, if they violated those rules, contact me for the legal help you'll need. I'll be happy to do so. I've been doing these cases for over 20 years.