Under the American with Disabilities Act, terminating an employee’s employment can result in
monetary damages even if you’ve been out on disability leave and receiving disability benefits.

An employee receiving social security disability benefits and on disability leave from an
employer is entitled to a leave of absence while the employee heals and recuperates from surgery
and the employer’s failure to grant the employee leave and the employee’s requests for
extensions of that leave violate the Fair Employment and Housing Act.

Gloria Rodriguez’s case against Comcast settled in 2021 after the Ninth Circuit court of appeals
reversed the summary judgment order which was issued by the federal magistrate.

A disabled employee is entitled to a “reasonable accommodation” which under the Fair
Employment and Housing Act [FEHA] means (as relevant here) a modification or adjustment to
the workplace that enables the employee to perform the essential functions of the job held or
desired.
Under California Government Code § 12940(n) employers are required to engage in the
interactive process “to determine effective reasonable accommodations, if any.

The jury in this case determined Neiman Marcus had failed to accommodate Nadaf’s disability or
engage in the interactive process, in violation of section 12940, subdivisions (m) and (n), and
had violated public policy in doing so. Neiman Marcus argued the judgment must be reversed
because Nadaf failed to present any admissible, substantial evidence of vacant positions for
which Nadaf was qualified during the relevant period. The Court disagreed
Bailey v. San Francisco District Attorney’s Office
California Supreme Court cite
On July 29, 2024 the California Supreme Court granted Twanda Bailey’s appeal and reversed the
San Francisco Superior Court’s dismissal of the case and reversed the First District Court of Appeal’s upholding of the dismissal and thereby defined what creates a “hostile working
environment” in California.

A jury verdict for $300,000.00 in compensatory damages and a court award for attorney fees and
costs of $261,947.63 upheld on appeal even though the employee had been out on disability
when she was terminated.