Can my employer fire me just for asking for medical leave in California?

In most situations, no. Requesting protected medical leave under CFRA, FMLA, or California disability laws is considered protected activity. An employer may not lawfully terminate you simply because you asked for leave. However, the employer may still discipline or terminate an employee for legitimate, non-retaliatory reasons that are unrelated to the leave request. The key legal question is whether the request played a motivating role in the decision.

Does it matter if my leave had not yet been approved?

It can. Protection may attach as soon as you provide sufficient notice of a serious health condition or request protected leave. An employer cannot avoid liability by terminating an employee before formally approving the leave if the decision was motivated by the request itself. Courts focus on the employer’s knowledge and intent at the time of termination.

How close in time does the termination need to be to prove retaliation?

There is no fixed timeline. Courts often look at whether the termination occurred days or weeks after the leave request, but timing alone is rarely decisive. A close temporal connection can raise suspicion, especially when combined with other evidence such as sudden performance write-ups or inconsistent explanations.

Are medical leave protections stronger in California than under federal law?

Yes — and employers frequently do. However, courts examine whether the stated reason is supported by prior documentation and consistent treatment of other employees. If performance concerns only appear after a leave request, or if protected absences were counted against you, that may suggest the explanation is pretextual.

Can my employer say it was performance-based even if I had just requested leave?

Often, yes. California’s CFRA and disability accommodation laws may provide broader or overlapping protections beyond federal FMLA rights. In some cases, state law requires employers to consider additional leave as a reasonable accommodation, even after FMLA has been exhausted. The interaction between these laws is often central to evaluating whether a termination was lawful.

Fired After Medical Leave Because of Your Age

You did exactly what you were supposed to. You told your employer about your medical condition. You requested leave through the proper channels. You followed every step of the process. And you ended up fired. You may not have just one legal claim. You probably have two: Age discrimination and disability discrimination (most health issues qualify as disabilities under California law).

We see it way too often: Age + Medical Leave = Termination.

We See the Pattern Over and Over Again

A older employee — usually in their 50s or 60s suffers from a health condition that requires time away from work. A surgery. A heart issue. A new diagnosis. Treatment for anxiety or depression. A temporary injury like a broken bone or chronic condition that flared up.

They take a leave of absence. They provide their employer with doctor’s notes and even fill out forms or have their doctor fill out forms if the employer wants them filled out. And yet one of these things happens:

Their position is “eliminated” while they are out. Or they return to find their responsibilities have been reassigned to someone without a health problem and/or younger. Or they come back and are immediately are criticized for performance reasons when they had no performance issues prior to their medical leave. Or they are told the company could not afford to have them out, or they were not eligible for leave, or the company was “restructuring” and their position suddenly disappeared.

The employers always have an explanation, but the explanation generally seems to involve replacing the older employee who needed medical leave with a healthier and/or younger employee–even if they change the title or try to hide the transfer of responsibilities in some other way. No matter the cover story, the underlying story is often the same: Age + Medical Leave = Termination

One Termination, Two Claims

When an older worker is fired after medical leave, two separate kinds of discrimination become relevant in California:

Disability discrimination under The Fair Employment and Housing Act – FEHA. California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with health conditions, which can include providing medical leave even when an employee has “used up” other leave rights, or has not worked long enough to be eligible for other leaves. Termination is not a reasonable accommodation when it comes to medical leave — it is probably discrimination.

Age discrimination under FEHA. Older employees who are fired in connection with a medical leave can often point to younger employees who took medical leave and did not end up fired.

Age discrimination and disability discrimination claims commonly reinforce each other: The age claim helps prove the disability claim, and the disability claim helps prove the age claim.

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"But My Employer Said It Had Nothing to Do With My Leave or My Age"

Of course they did. They say things like:

“Your position was eliminated as part of a restructuring.” But somehow the restructuring only affected one employee who was on or just came back from medical leave (you). And the work is still being done by someone else.

“Your performance has declined.” But the performance issues only appeared in your file after you took leave. Before that, you had years of positive reviews.

“We need someone who can be here consistently.” That is almost a textbook statement of disability discrimination. An employer generally cannot penalize you for absences that were legally protected medical leave.

“This was a business decision.” Every termination is a business decision. The question is whether the business decision was illegal. California courts look at the evidence, not the label the employer puts on it.

Evidence That Matters in These Cases

If any of these are true, your case is likely stronger than you think:

You had positive performance reviews before your medical leave and negative ones after
You were replaced by someone significantly younger or healthier
Your employer made comments about your health, energy, ability to “handle the workload,” or asked you about (or mentioned) retirement
The timing between your leave and your termination was suspiciously close
Your employer failed to engage in the interactive process (failed to talk to you about the medical leave being a problem) before terminating you
You were suddenly told you had performance issues only after you took a medical leave — your employer started documenting minor issues that were never flagged before your leave

If You Were Fired While on Medical Leave

Employees are often told their termination had nothing to do with their medical condition or leave. In many situations, however, the timing and circumstances raise serious legal questions under California law.

Our firm focuses specifically on cases where employees are terminated because of a health condition, disability, or need for medical leave. If your job ended after requesting or taking medical leave, it may be worth having the situation reviewed by an attorney familiar with California medical leave protections.