We Fight for the People Who Are Already Fighting
A cancer diagnosis changes everything.
For most people, one of the first fears that surfaces, right alongside the medical ones, is what happens to their job. That fear is legitimate. Employment isn’t just income. It’s health insurance. It’s routine. It’s a sense of normalcy when everything else feels out of control.
It’s also, unfortunately, one of the areas where people get taken advantage of when they’re most vulnerable.
This is personal to me. My wife is an oncologist at USC. The patients she treats are fighting for their lives and through her work, I have come to understand how much people carry during that fight. The physical toll. The emotional weight. And underneath all of it, the constant fear about their job. Being close to that reality has shaped how I think about this area of the law. It is not abstract to us.
That is why we are proud to sponsor Cancer and Careers — one of the country’s most important organizations for people navigating a diagnosis while still working or trying to return to work. Their mission is education, resources, and community. Ours is legal protection when employers cross the line. We believe those two things belong together.
And it is why I am writing to you today. Because if you or someone you care about is working through a cancer diagnosis, there are things you need to know which your employer is counting on you not knowing.
What Your Employer Cannot Do
Under California law, a cancer diagnosis is a disability. The moment you disclose it, your employer has legal obligations to you. Here is what California law guarantees:
Your employer must engage with you about accommodations. They cannot simply say no. They are legally required to have a real, good-faith conversation about what modifications are possible such as adjusted hours, a temporary change in duties, remote work, or time off for treatment. If they refuse to have that conversation, that refusal itself may be a violation.
You are entitled to protected medical leave. Under California’s Family Rights Act and federal FMLA, eligible employees may receive up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave. Your employer cannot fire you, demote you, or penalize you for taking leave you are legally entitled to. If they do, that is retaliation and it is a separate legal claim on top of any discrimination claim.
Your job must be there when you come back. When you return from medical leave, your employer is required to restore you to your same position or a comparable one. Eliminating your role while you are on leave is one of the most common violations we see. And it is illegal.
They cannot treat you differently because of your diagnosis. Reducing your hours, passing you over for promotion, giving you a suddenly poor performance review, or restructuring your position in a way that only seems to affect you — these are all red flags. Discrimination rarely comes with an honest explanation. It comes dressed as a performance issue or a business decision.
We handle cancer discrimination cases every day. We know how to recognize what employers try to hide.
What Happened to One of Our Clients
She was a strong performer with years at the company. Shortly after her diagnosis, everything changed. Her hours were reduced. Her responsibilities were quietly reassigned and her position was “eliminated.”
Her employer hoped she was too exhausted to fight back. She called us instead. We recovered $2.4 million for her. That is not a typical outcome. Every case is different. But it is a real one. And it is a reminder that what happened to her was not just unfair. It was illegal. And it was worth fighting.
Protecting Yourself Right Now: A Practical Checklist
If you are currently employed and navigating a diagnosis, these are the steps that matter most:
- Document everything. Keep a personal record of any changes in how you are treated after your disclosure including: dates, names, and what was said. Write it down while it is fresh.
- Screenshot important communications. If you are on a work device or work platform, do not rely on those systems to preserve your records. Screenshot emails, messages, and any relevant documents and save them somewhere only you control. Employers do not preserve evidence on your behalf.
- Put accommodation requests in writing. Email is fine. It creates a record your employer cannot later dispute.
- Do not resign without speaking to an attorney first. If your working conditions have become intolerable, leaving may feel like the only option. But resigning can affect your legal rights in ways that are difficult to undo. Call us before you make that decision.
- Do not wait. Even though you generally have three years from the discriminatory act to file a claim, evidence disappears, records get altered, and witnesses move on. Every day you delay is potentially a day of recoverable damages you cannot get back.
Why We Do This Work
Employment law is all we do. We have spent our careers handling wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, and disability-related workplace violations, and a meaningful part of that work involves people navigating serious health conditions while trying to hold onto their careers.
When a client calls us, they are often scared, often exhausted, and often convinced that nothing can be done. Our job every time is to tell them the truth about where they stand, fight as hard as the law allows, and make sure their employer is held accountable.
If any of what I have described sounds familiar to you or someone you know, please reach out or forward this email. No one should have to navigate a cancer diagnosis and a workplace crisis alone.
Attorney Advertisement. This email is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Labor Law PC. Prior results described herein do not guarantee a similar outcome in your matter.
