I was fired after asking for medical leave or an accommodation: is that illegal in California?

Leave and accommodation disputes tend to arise when an employee is already dealing with an illness, an injury or a new child. This page explains the two laws involved, what an employee has to prove, how a claim moves forward from Glendale or anywhere in Los Angeles County, and what to do next. For the full list of protections under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), see our employment law page.

How does a leave or accommodation claim work, step by step?

1. The request. You tell the employer you need leave or a change at work. Under CACI 2602, notice of the need for family or medical leave can be verbal or written and does not need to mention the law, but it must make the employer aware that you need leave, when it will begin and how long it is expected to last. When the need is foreseeable, Government Code section 12945.2(g) requires reasonable advance notice.
2. Certification. The employer may ask for a note from your health care provider. For your own serious health condition, section 12945.2(j)(1) says it is sufficient if it gives the date the condition began, its probable duration, and a statement that you cannot perform the functions of your position. CACI 2602 adds that an employer cannot require disclosure of a medical diagnosis.
3. The interactive process. For a disability accommodation, Government Code section 12940(n) requires the employer to engage in a timely, good faith interactive process with you to find effective accommodations.
4. The firing or other action. If you are fired, demoted or pushed out after the request, write down the date, the reason given and who decided. CACI 2620 notes that CFRA reaches a broad range of adverse actions short of a firing.
5. A Civil Rights Department intake. CFRA and disability claims are part of FEHA, so they begin with an intake form to the Civil Rights Department within three years of the date you were last harmed. The department recommends bringing medical documentation and documents showing your accommodation request and any denial. Our page on how to file a Civil Rights Department complaint walks through the intake interview.
6. Investigation or a right-to-sue notice. The department may investigate, or you may ask for an immediate right-to-sue notice; once you have one, you have one year to file a lawsuit, and the department will not investigate.
7. Court in Los Angeles County. The Superior Court's statement of location form (LASC CIV 109) lists employment complaints as a case type that may be filed in the Central District downtown or in the district where the claim arose. Our guide to the Stanley Mosk Courthouse describes the first months after filing.

What does the California Family Rights Act protect?

CFRA gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of job-protected leave in a 12-month period (Government Code section 12945.2(a)). It applies to any person who directly employs five or more people (section 12945.2(b)(4)), and the Civil Rights Department (CRD) confirms the five-employee threshold.

It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer to interfere with, restrain or deny the exercise of CFRA rights (section 12945.2(q)), or to discharge or discriminate against someone for using them (section 12945.2(k)). The CRD adds an important point for sudden illness: if the need for leave is an emergency or otherwise unforeseeable and the employee gives notice as soon as practical, the employer may not deny CFRA leave or fire the employee for not giving advance notice.

Pregnancy disability leave is a separate right, up to four months for employers of five or more, according to the CRD. Our page on pregnancy leave and job protection explains it. For shorter absences, our page on paid sick leave in California covers the rules.

What must my employer do when I ask for an accommodation?

Under Government Code section 12940(m)(1), an employer must make reasonable accommodation for an employee's known physical or mental disability unless it proves undue hardship. Under section 12940(n), it must engage in a timely, good faith interactive process with the employee to find effective accommodations once an accommodation is requested. And under section 12940(m)(2), it may not retaliate against a person for requesting an accommodation, regardless of whether the request was granted.

Many people do not realize what counts. The CRD explains that mild conditions such as a cold or the flu are not disabilities, but even temporary conditions, like a broken bone or pneumonia, qualify when they limit a major life activity. It also says leave or time off can itself be a reasonable accommodation, so an employee who is disabled and entitled to time off cannot lawfully be fired for being out sick.

What do I have to prove?

The Judicial Council's jury instructions list the elements for each claim. A single firing can support more than one of them.

For a FEHA retaliation claim, the instruction (CACI 2505) notes that an employee who requested a disability accommodation may win a retaliation claim even without proving a separate discrimination claim.

What changes the answer?

These are the facts that most often decide a leave or accommodation case.

The size of the employer and your time on the job

CFRA and the FEHA disability rules both reach employers of five or more. CFRA leave also requires more than 12 months of service and 1,250 hours in the past year under section 12945.2(a). The CRD says pregnancy disability leave has no minimum hours or length of service, and the CRD lists accommodation requests among the matters it handles for employers of five or more.

Whether the employer asked for certification in writing

An employer that denies leave for lack of a doctor's note has to prove, under CACI 2610, that it told you in writing that certification was required and that you did not provide it in the time it set or as soon as reasonably possible. The directions for that instruction say the time set must be at least 15 days.

Whether the job would have ended anyway

CACI 2612 lets an employer argue that you would have been fired or laid off even if you had kept working, and that the leave was not a reason. The employer carries the burden on that defense, and the instruction notes that an employee on leave has no greater right to the job than one who kept working.

Whether the condition is a disability

For the accommodation rules in section 12940(m) and (n), the condition must limit a major life activity. A routine cold does not; a broken bone or pneumonia can, according to the CRD. If the condition does not qualify, CFRA leave for a serious health condition may still apply.

What else was going on

If you had also complained about harassment or unpaid wages, other protections may apply at the same time. A firing that breaks a law like CFRA can also support a separate claim for wrongful termination in violation of public policy, which has its own two-year deadline.

A worked example

For example, imagine a hypothetical medical assistant who has worked at a Glendale clinic with 20 employees for three years. She needs back surgery and asks her office manager, in a text and then an email, for six weeks off. The manager asks what her diagnosis is and requests a doctor's note by the next morning. She sends a note with the start date and expected length of her condition. On her return, her doctor asks that she avoid heavy lifting for a month. The manager says there is no light duty, and two weeks later she is let go in a "restructuring." A new medical assistant is hired the following month.

Several rules apply. The clinic is a CFRA employer, and she meets the service requirements. Her notice did not need to name the law. The clinic could ask for certification but not for her diagnosis, and a next-morning deadline is shorter than the 15 days described in the directions for CACI 2610. Her lifting restriction triggered the interactive process in section 12940(n), and her request is protected from retaliation under section 12940(m)(2) whether or not it was granted. The timing and the replacement hire are evidence; the clinic will offer its own explanation.

She saves the texts and emails, requests her personnel file, and notes her three-year window for a Civil Rights Department intake. None of this predicts how a claim would end; it shows what to preserve.

Common mistakes after a leave or accommodation firing

• Keeping requests verbal only. A spoken request is valid notice, but a short follow-up email gives you proof of what you asked for and when.
• Sharing more medical detail than required. The employer is entitled to the certification items the statute lists, not your diagnosis.
• Asking for an immediate right-to-sue notice without a plan. The CRD says filing your own lawsuit this way is advisable only if you have an attorney, and the one-year clock to sue starts with the notice.
• Signing a release quickly. A severance agreement usually gives up these claims; our page on whether to sign a severance agreement explains the review period.

What to do this week

1. Write a dated timeline of every leave or accommodation request, each response, and the firing.
2. Save your requests, doctor's notes, any denial, and emails or texts about the leave. The CRD recommends bringing exactly these documents to an intake interview.
3. Ask in writing for your personnel file and payroll records; our page on getting your personnel file and payroll records has the deadlines.
4. Check that your final pay arrived on time. Our page on final paycheck rules in California explains what is due when you are fired.
5. Note the deadlines. Our table of employment claim deadlines puts the CRD and court limits side by side.
6. Use our checklist for the first week after being fired in California for unemployment and other immediate steps.
7. Talk to an employment lawyer before signing anything or filing on your own.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to tell my employer my diagnosis?

No. CACI 2602 states that an employer cannot require disclosure of any medical diagnosis, although it should ask for the information it needs to decide whether you are entitled to leave. A certification that gives the start date, probable duration and your inability to work is sufficient under section 12945.2(j)(1).

My employer has only eight employees. Does CFRA apply?

It can. Section 12945.2(b)(4) defines a CFRA employer as anyone who directly employs five or more people. You still need more than 12 months of service and 1,250 hours in the previous year to be eligible.

Can my employer fire me while I am on CFRA leave?

Not because of the leave. An employer may argue under CACI 2612 that the job would have ended anyway, but it must prove that and prove the leave was not a reason. Firing someone for using CFRA is an unlawful employment practice under section 12945.2(k).

Is time off itself a reasonable accommodation?

It can be. The CRD says an employee whose illness qualifies as a disability is generally entitled to leave or time off as a reasonable accommodation, so being out sick is not by itself a lawful reason to fire that employee.

I missed work before I could ask for leave. Can they fire me for not giving notice?

If the need for CFRA leave was an emergency or otherwise unforeseeable and you gave notice as soon as practical, the CRD says the employer may not deny the leave or fire you for failing to give advance notice.

Do I get the same job back?

CFRA requires a guarantee of the same or a comparable position, meaning one with the same or similar duties and pay at the same or a similar location (section 12945.2(b)(6)). You also return with no less seniority than you had when the leave began.

How can Glendale Law help?

We help employees understand what leave they were entitled to and whether their employer honored those rights. We review the requests, the timing and the employer's explanation, and we can prepare the CRD filing and pursue the case in court when that is the right step. No result can be promised, but early advice helps preserve the evidence. Workers in Glendale can read about local agencies and courts on our Glendale employment lawyer page. Call (818) 244-9000 or request a consultation.