Can a Job Fire You for Having a Medical Condition?

California law protects employees from being fired due to medical conditions with federal safeguards like FMLA and ADA ensuring fairness. Learn about your rights, employer obligations, and potential remedies for wrongful termination or retaliation in medical leave cases.

By Brad Nakase, Attorney

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Have a quick question? We answered nearly 2000 FAQs.

Table of Contents

1. Can an employee get fired for having a medical condition in California?

2. Firing based on a medical condition

3. Violation of rights under FMLA

4. Retaliation-based harassment

5. Fired for medical condition: what to do

6. FMLA protections for disabled employees

7. Compensation from a discrimination claim

8. FMLA claims deadline

Can an employee get fired for having a medical condition in California?

In this age of workaholism, employees are often hesitant to be upfront with their employers about needing a break for their health. Maybe their boss was so not chill the last time they got sick, or perhaps they simply do not know about their rights as an employee.

The ugly truth is that there are times when a manager may try to fire an employee who gets injured or sick. But the state and federal governments are one step ahead. They have put specific laws into place that protect workers in these situations. If you’re reading this scratching your head, thinking maybe you were fired because of a medical condition, read on! The first step is to learn about your employee rights.

In reality, the state of California is one of the only places that offers all-encompassing protections for employees. As an example, companies in the state cannot hire, fire, promote, or demote based on discriminatory reasons (‘Jan is Black. She’s not getting a bonus because I don’t like Black people’). They also are forbidden to break federal and state laws that are meant to safeguard workers (‘I need you to work five hours of overtime tonight, Kevin, but I can’t pay you for it. How about I buy you a McMuffin and we’ll call it even?’)

Similarly, in California, your employer is not allowed to make any decision related to your job on the basis of a medical condition. This may encompass disability, a temporary condition, or an illness. Now, you may have heard of ‘at-will’ employment. This means your boss can fire you at any time for any (legal) reason, just as you can pack up and quit for any reason.

But regardless of whether your employment is at-will, your boss cannot fire you based on a medical condition. Non-at-will employees have more protections in the form of contracts and the like. But people employed at-will are still guarded against unfair employment decisions.

You might have heard of FMLA, which is short for the Family and Medical Leave Act. This is a federal law that, according to the Department of Labor, forces employers to offer eligible employees medical leave in specific situations. These qualified workers are thus able to take twelve weeks of unpaid leave each year without fear of losing their jobs or health insurance.

You can take this leave if you just gave birth or adopted a child, or if you need to take care of a spouse, child, or parent dealing with a medical condition. If any of your relatives was hurt or fell ill on active military duty, this is also covered under the FMLA. In such cases, the worker can get twenty-six weeks of leave in a year.

In addition to FMLA, you should also know about the ADA, another federal law. The Americans with Disabilities Act keeps employers from discriminating against workers who have physical or mental disabilities (or impairments) that impact their lives in a major way. You may wonder if your medical condition falls under the umbrella of this disability protection. Know that the ADA may sometimes be relevant to medical conditions that are not standard disabilities.

Now that we’ve covered the federal side of things, let’s look at California in particular. The state has a web of medical and family leave laws. PFL is a big one. Paid Family Leave applies to certain eligible employees who need time off to take care of relatives or a newborn. This leave covers a percentage of their wages.

What’s the big difference between California’s PFL and the federal FMLA, you may wonder? While the FMLA will protect you from losing your job while away from the office, it won’t pay you during that time. Only the PFL goes that extra step to cover a portion of your wages while you’re away.

Sounds good, right? But there’s a catch – you need to qualify as an employee for PFL. Specifically, this means that you need to be insured – as in, money comes out of your paycheck for insurance.

As for benefits under PFL, a qualifying employee can look forward to 55% of their base pay being covered. Such benefits last for as many as eight weeks in any given year.

To take Paid Family Leave, you need to meet a few criteria first:

To take care of an adopted, foster, or newborn child.
To take care of a terminally ill spouse, child, or domestic partner.

It’s important to note that you will not be eligible for PFL just because little Timmy got a cold at kindergarten. Now, if Timmy went into sepsis and was hospitalized, then PFL would be approved. So, severity is a major element of qualification. Also, if you yourself have a medical condition, you do not qualify under this particular law.

It is the duty of employers to follow the letter of the law when it comes to managing sick or injured staff. This means that if an employee has coverage under disability insurance, they may get financial aid if they are unable to work. But this kind of insurance does not come with job protection. According to the National Federation of Independent Business, even if an employee is getting disability payments, their employer may still be able to fire them.

The way an employee handles a medical condition may also be influenced by their company’s paid sick leave and time off policies. Take Joe, for example. He uses all his paid vacation time on a trip to Vanuatu. However, a week after getting back, he catches a terrible virus. His boss may sign off on him getting some unpaid leave. The important thing is that all workers are treated equally. If Sarah catches the flu at the same time as Joe and also lacks paid leave, she should be afforded the same treatment and get unpaid time off.

Firing based on a medical condition

But wait! It is technically possible for an employer to fire an employee based on a medical condition. Remember when we discussed at-will employment? Yup – an employer can terminate a worker for pretty much any legal reason.

People tend to claim wrongful termination when their company breaks the law or discriminates against them. It is also illegal for an employer to fire someone who is on federal FMLA leave or can do their job, just with some helpful accommodations in place.

So, let’s say Daniel has a ski accident and is paralyzed from the waist down. He can do his office job just fine, but he needs the office to be accessible for his wheelchair. In this situation, his boss would be required to provide reasonable accommodations. But if Daniel’s company makes the office wheelchair-friendly only for Daniel to refuse to show up to work, it would have the grounds to fire him.

Violation of rights under FMLA

It is illegal for companies to participate in retaliation or discrimination. For this reason, leave in California is protected. This means that after an employee takes time off for a medical condition, they will return to the same position or a similar one. Employers in California are not allowed to retaliate or discriminate against workers who ask for or take leave. Here are some examples of unlawful retaliation and discrimination:

Unjustified demotions
Firing for no reason
Random pay cuts
Threats and harassment
Bullying from coworkers or bosses
Intimidation

If your boss is making employment decisions as a way of punishing you for wanting leave, this is retaliation. If this happens, you should submit a complaint through the proper channels and find an employment lawyer pronto.

Retaliation-based harassment

It is unlawful for California companies to harass pregnant workers or those who have given birth or are trying to take related leave. But what constitutes harassment in a legal sense? First, it needs to be serious or pervasive enough for it to create a toxic work environment or result in a negative employment decision.

Some examples of harassment are slurs, insults, mean jokes, and unwelcome touching. For it to qualify as harassment, the employee does not need to be handicapped or injured. Anyone can be a victim of harassment.

There are a number of ways employers can retaliate against workers. Firing is one of them. When an employee is fired for unlawful reasons, such as for taking leave, they may be the victim of wrongful termination.

Losing your job is an awful experience for everyone. For this reason, California has stepped in to offer some protections against wrongful termination. If the below conditions are met, it’s wrongful termination under the law:

Firing is based on discrimination.
Firing is against a government contract or company policy.
Firing is made in retaliation against a worker for doing their legal duty.

So, at-will employment is not as black-and-white as it may seem. It does not protect employers who fire someone on unlawful grounds. Even well-known companies have been found guilty of wrongful termination now and again. If you suspect you may be a victim of wrongful termination (like being fired for taking medical leave), pick up that phone and get in touch with an employment lawyer!

A lot of workers in the government or public sector are at-will, but employees with verbal, implicit, or written contracts could be an exception. By and large, though, the majority of California workers are at-will.

You may wonder how official a contract needs to be. For there to be a lawful agreement, it does not have to be an official, signed agreement. It could simply be disciplinary processes listed in an employee manual or a permanent job posting. Evidence of a contract could also be:

An offer from the company
An acceptance of the offer
The arrangement benefits both the employer and the worker

As a California worker, you may dread the thought of suddenly being fired without reason. But if this actually happens to you, in all likelihood you could be the victim of wrongful termination.

On the employee side, you are free to stop working, resign, or go on strike for whatever reason you choose. A company, however, needs to have a good, legal reason to fire an employee. It also needs to be backed up by evidence. That is to say, there needs to be just cause to terminate a worker’s employment contract.

Of course, employment law is a complicated field. Certain cases of discrimination can set off alarm bells in multiple employment law areas. To build a sturdy claim, you’ll need to map out your situation and identify each of your employer’s violations. That may sound like a headache and a half, but don’t worry! Employment lawyers are here to help you through the process.

Fired for medical condition: what to do

When a company abuses an employee’s right to medical leave, they are violating federal and state law. Eligible employees who were denied their deserved leave are completely justified in filing a lawsuit against their employer. However, these workers may not even be aware they have a claim.

California law forbids companies from messing with an employee’s right to protected leave. Included in this provision is the right to take time off to help a sick family member. If an employee was refused their rightful leave or was discriminated against or punished upon their return, they have a claim.

FMLA protections for disabled employees

As we mentioned earlier, where California really shines is employee safeguards. Similarly, the state doesn’t mess around when it comes to protections against retaliation and discrimination. So it makes sense that the state is careful to protect those with disabilities.

In the context of this article, disabled employees can take a leave of absence as a form of accommodation. This means that if a disabled employee asks for a leave for their medical condition, their employer must grant it in the same way they would provide reasonable accommodations.

These accommodations should be reasonable, of course. They must make every effort to comply, assuming it is not too expensive or inconvenient for the company. Other factors that determine whether an accommodation is reasonable include difficulty, employer size, and disruption.

According to the law, when an employer discovers that a worker has a disability or medical condition, they must come to an agreement with the employee on any reasonable changes. If an employer refuses to negotiate, they are breaking the law. So, if Miranda needs a wheelchair ramp installed to get into the office and her boss says, ‘It doesn’t fit our aesthetic,’ he’s looking at a potential lawsuit.

On the disabled employee’s side, there is the expectation of good faith requests. An employer is allowed to ask for medical proof of the employee’s medical condition and can also contact the worker’s doctors to figure out what kind of accommodation is appropriate. If an employee does not comply, they can be fired and will have no case in court.

If there is a dispute during these negotiations that results in termination, the courts will take a look to see who is at fault. If you are disabled and plan to take part in accommodation negotiations, make sure to document your participation. Have a copy sent to HR or your manager.

It is unlawful to discriminate against current or future workers based on a disability or medical condition. For this reason, there is no question in pre-employment surveys about the subject. Rather, if you are offered the position, you will be asked whether you need any special accommodations.

Now, if you have a medical condition that might put others at risk, your company can fire you or refuse to hire you. For instance, people with epilepsy are not allowed to drive trains, buses, and other vehicles. But the risks need to be grounded in reality, not theory. The employer needs to justify their decision to not hire or fire you, rather than base it on speculation.

If you believe you may have lost out on a job opportunity because of your medical condition, don’t hesitate to hire an employment lawyer to defend your employee rights.

Compensation from a discrimination claim

Sometimes, workers do not make claims because they think it will be expensive and not worth the effort. But if you have proof of wrongful termination, hiring counsel will likely result in your victory.

What do you get out of it? There are different kinds of damages, or compensation, that can result from winning an employment law case. Here are some examples:

1. Loss of income

In this case, you get money to replace lost wages, income, or salary. It is supposed to replace the money you would have made had you not suffered discrimination.

2. Emotional distress damages

Discrimination can cause people to suffer psychologically with issues like insecurity, anxiety, and anguish. Things like insomnia, weight loss, and depression could all result in compensation. The point of these damages is to cover any mental distress suffered previously and down the road.

3. Punitive damages

Punitive damages are meant to punish a company for its bad behavior. These kinds of damages are not super common in the U.S., however. To get these kinds of damages, you need to prove that the company acted with intent or dishonesty.

4. Legal fees

One of the biggest features of discrimination claims is the ability to recoup legal fees. A lot of discrimination claims result in small amounts of compensation for financial or emotional suffering, so this is one of the more common forms of damages.

The point of this compensation is to make the victim whole after the losses they endured due to their employer’s behavior. Losing your job as a result of discrimination can lead to a significant loss of income and quality of life, after all.

So, if you can show that your company’s actions caused you pain and suffering, you could receive compensation that will help you recover. Because of the high stakes, you don’t want to go this road alone. Seek the help of an experienced employment lawyer to defend your rights and represent your interests. A lawyer will be able to investigate your employer, collect evidence, fill out all the paperwork, and help you file your claim with the appropriate authorities.

FMLA claims deadline

You only have a certain amount of time to file an FMLA claim. This time limit is known as a statute of limitations. This rule applies regardless of whether a worker files their own suit or submits a claim to the Secretary of Labor.

There is no specific statute of limitations for filing with the Secretary of Labor. The claim should be submitted to the Wage and Hour division in a reasonable amount of time after the employee realizes their rights have been violated.

An employee has two years to file their own lawsuit in court. This means two years from the date of the last employer violation. If the employee believes their employer violated the FMLA knowingly, they then have three years to file.

It is important to remember that the court decides if a breach of the FMLA was negligent or intentional. Also, employees may find their rights diminished somewhat if they go the private lawsuit route.

Have a quick question? We answered nearly 2000 FAQs.

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