Disability Discrimination

We are an employee-side firm, and disability cases are among the most common we see. A warehouse worker near the ports is fired a week after a lifting restriction. A hospital nurse is denied a modified schedule for chemotherapy. An office employee with anxiety is mocked for asking to work from home. A driver returning from back surgery is told his route "no longer exists." These stories repeat across LA's logistics, healthcare, hospitality, entertainment, and office workplaces, and the law prohibits every one of them.

Call (877) 775-2267 for a free, confidential consultation with a disability discrimination lawyer in Los Angeles. No fees until we win.

Signs of Disability Discrimination at Work

• Fired or "laid off" soon after disclosing a disability, injury, diagnosis, or need for treatment.
• Accommodation requests ignored or denied without any real discussion of options.
• No interactive process: your employer never sat down with you to explore what would let you keep working.
• Forced onto leave when a simple accommodation (modified duties, schedule change, equipment) would have worked.
• Terminated while on, or right after, medical leave, or told your position was filled during a protected absence.
• "100% healed" policies: being told you cannot return until you have no restrictions at all, which is unlawful in California.
• Intrusive medical questions or demands for your full medical history rather than information about work limitations.
• Harassment: jokes or resentment about your condition, your accommodations, or your "special treatment."
• Retaliation for requesting accommodations or taking protected leave.

Many disability cases are really accommodation cases. For a deep dive into how accommodation rights work, see our reasonable accommodations page, and for leave-specific protections, our disability and leave rights practice page.

Your Rights Under California Law

FEHA Defines Disability Broadly, Broader Than the ADA

California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits employers with five or more employees from discriminating based on physical disability, mental disability, or medical condition. FEHA's definition is intentionally broad: a condition qualifies if it limits a major life activity, without the federal ADA's stricter "substantially limits" hurdle. Covered conditions include chronic illnesses, mobility and sensory impairments, mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and PTSD, and specifically defined medical conditions such as cancer and genetic characteristics. Perceived disabilities and a history of disability are also protected. Workers with cancer have additional considerations we cover on our cancer discrimination page.

The Right to Reasonable Accommodation and the Interactive Process

FEHA imposes two independent duties on your employer:

1. Provide reasonable accommodation for a known disability unless it would cause undue hardship: modified schedules, remote work where feasible, equipment, reassignment of marginal tasks, transfer to an open position, or finite medical leave, among others.
2. Engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process: a genuine dialogue with you about what would work. Failing to engage in that process is itself a violation of California law, even apart from the underlying accommodation.

If your employer's response to your restrictions was silence, a form denial, or "come back when you're 100%," it likely violated one or both duties. Our reasonable accommodations page walks through the process step by step.

Leave as an Accommodation, and Protected Medical Leave

Finite medical leave can itself be a reasonable accommodation under FEHA, on top of leave rights under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), which applies to employers with five or more employees, unlike the federal FMLA's 50-employee threshold. Firing a worker because they needed or took protected medical leave frequently supports both discrimination and retaliation claims. Details are on our disability and leave rights page.

Deadlines

Generally, you have three years from the last discriminatory act to file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), followed by a limited window to sue after your right-to-sue notice. Shorter deadlines apply to federal claims and some related actions. Deadlines vary case by case; talk to a lawyer as soon as possible.

How We Build Your Case

1. Free consultation. We review your disclosure, your restrictions, and your employer's response, and give you a straight answer about your options.
2. Evidence collection. Doctor's notes, accommodation requests, HR correspondence, job descriptions, and the timeline connecting your disability to the adverse action.
3. CRD filing. We complete the required administrative step and secure your right to sue under FEHA.
4. Negotiation or trial. We pursue full compensation through demand and mediation, and litigate in Los Angeles Superior Court or federal court when needed.

What You May Recover

Depending on your facts, a disability discrimination case may seek back pay and lost benefits, future lost earnings, compensation for emotional distress, punitive damages where the employer acted with malice or conscious disregard, and attorney fees and costs under FEHA, which carries no Title VII-style damages caps. No outcome can be promised in advance; the free consultation is where we give you a realistic assessment.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Is my condition a "disability" under California law?

  FEHA's definition is broad: physical or mental conditions that limit a major life activity qualify, including many chronic illnesses and mental health conditions, plus medical conditions like cancer. Even if your employer only perceived you as disabled, you are protected. When in doubt, ask a lawyer rather than assuming you are not covered.

• My employer says accommodating me is too expensive. Can they just refuse?

  Only if the accommodation truly imposes undue hardship, meaning significant difficulty or expense given the employer's size and resources. They must still engage in the interactive process and consider alternatives. A bare cost complaint from a substantial employer rarely holds up. See reasonable accommodations for how this analysis works.

• Can I be fired while on medical leave?

  Not because you took the leave or because of your disability. Employers sometimes use restructurings to disguise these firings, but timing, replacement evidence, and shifting explanations often expose them. Our disability and leave rights page explains CFRA and related protections.

• Do I have to tell my employer my diagnosis?

  Generally no. You must put the employer on notice of your limitations and need for accommodation, but you are not required to hand over your full medical file, and employers are limited to information relevant to your restrictions and the accommodation.

• What if my employer requires me to be "fully healed" before returning?

  So-called 100% healed policies violate FEHA because they bypass the individualized accommodation assessment California requires. If you were kept out of work under one, that policy itself may be the centerpiece of your claim.

• Is addiction or past substance abuse covered?

  Recovery-related conditions and histories can be protected in some circumstances, though current illegal drug use is not. These cases are fact-specific, so get personalized advice.

Related Practice Areas

• Workplace Discrimination: the full FEHA framework for all protected characteristics.
• Disability and Leave Rights: CFRA, medical leave, and returning to work after illness or injury.
• Reasonable Accommodations: the interactive process and your accommodation rights in detail.
• Age Discrimination: health conditions are often used as cover for pushing out older workers.
• Cancer Discrimination: employment rights during and after cancer treatment.

Serving Workers Across Los Angeles and California

From our Santa Monica office, we represent employees throughout Los Angeles County, including Long Beach, Torrance, Glendale, Pasadena, Burbank, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and the San Fernando Valley, and workers statewide.

Talk to a Disability Discrimination Lawyer for Free

Your health and your career are both worth protecting. Find out where you stand before deadlines run or paperwork boxes you in.

Call (877) 775-2267 or request your free case evaluation. No fees until we win.