Fired While on Disability in California?
If you were fired while you were out of work because of a disability—or shortly after returning to work—your employer may have violated California law.
But there is an important distinction: being “on disability” does not automatically protect your job.
People use the phrase “on disability” to describe several different things. You may be receiving California State Disability Insurance (SDI), short-term or long-term disability benefits, taking medical leave because your doctor says you cannot work, or working with medical restrictions because of a physical or mental health condition.
Those are not all the same thing legally.
Disability benefits replace some of your income while you cannot work. They do not, by themselves, protect your job. Your job protection may instead come from California disability discrimination and reasonable accommodation laws, CFRA, FMLA, pregnancy disability laws, or a combination of those protections. California EDD itself makes this distinction: Disability Insurance provides wage-replacement benefits, not job protection.
The more important questions are not related to disability benefits, but instead focus on why you were unable to work, what your doctor had to say about you working, what your employer knew about your condition and your doctor’s view of your condition and limitations and your expected return to work, and what your employer did before deciding to terminate you.
Can My Employer Fire Me While I Am On Disability?
Sometimes. Being on disability does not create absolute immunity from termination.
An employer may still terminate an employee for a legitimate reason unrelated to the disability or protected medical leave. And there are circumstances in which an employee cannot perform the essential functions of the job even with reasonable accommodation.
But an employer generally cannot fire an employee because of a protected disability, and California law may require an employer to provide reasonable accommodation and engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process before terminating an employee whose disability affects the employee’s ability to work. California defines disability broadly, and reasonable accommodation can include medical leave, schedule changes, changes in duties, and other measures depending on the circumstances.
So when an employer says:
“You have been out too long.”
“You exhausted your leave.”
“We cannot hold your position any longer.”
“You need to return without restrictions.”
or
“When you’re better, you can reapply.”
the employer is trying to end the discussion, but it may be simply beginning a new discussion about how it cut short the process and failed to comply with the law.
What Does "On Disability" Actually Mean?
People often use the phrase “on disability” to mean that they are receiving State Disability Insurance (SDI) or benefits through a private short- or long-term disability policy. But that is only one way people use the phrase.
Under California employment law, a disability can include a physical or mental health condition that limits an employee’s ability to work. So when someone says they are “out on disability,” they may simply mean that a health condition temporarily prevents them from doing their job—even if they are not receiving disability benefits and their doctor has never used the word disability.
For example, an employee with severe asthma might be unable to work for several weeks after an infection causes a serious flare-up. Another employee might need time away from work while being treated for a mental health condition and adjusting to new medication. In either situation, the employee may have rights under California disability and reasonable-accommodation laws even though no one has formally declared the employee “disabled.”
So when someone asks, “Can I be fired while I’m on disability?” the real question may be: “Can my employer fire me because a health condition has temporarily prevented me from working?”
That is often a very different legal question from whether the employee is receiving disability benefits.
I have spent decades arguing with lawyers for employers about what qualifies as a “disability” under California law. The word often means something very different in an employment case than it does in ordinary conversation. You don’t have to think of yourself as “disabled,” or receive disability benefits, or have a doctor call you disabled to be protected by California disability law. You should simply ask whether you had a physical or mental health condition (including pregnancy) that limited your ability to work and let the lawyers worry about the rest.
Medical Leave May Be A Reasonable Accommodation
his is one of the most important concepts for California employees to understand.
You may hear: “You’ve used all your leave” or “You are not yet eligible for leave” or something similar.
But there is not just one kind of “leave.” FMLA and CFRA provide particular forms of protected leave to employees who meet their requirements. Disability accommodation law operates differently.
Under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), medical leave itself can be a reasonable accommodation when appropriate. That means an employee can sometimes exhaust FMLA or CFRA leave and still have rights under California disability law.
The employer may need to ask questions such as:
- Is additional leave reasonably likely to allow the employee to return?
- Is there an anticipated return date?
- Could the employee return with restrictions?
- Could another reasonable accommodation allow the employee to perform the essential functions of the job?
- Would the proposed accommodation create an undue hardship?
What an employer should generally not do is treat the expiration of one leave entitlement as automatically answering every disability-accommodation question. Many of my cases are a direct result of this unfortunate practice.
The California department that enforces disability discrimination laws has published guidance for employers advising them that they have an obligation to initiate an interactive communication process when the employer becomes aware that an employee has exhausted leave benefits but requires further leave as a reasonable accommodation.
What if My Employer Says I've Been out Too Long Under Its Policies?
This is one of the recurring fact patterns we see.
An employee becomes unable to work because of a serious medical condition. The employee provides doctor’s notes. Leave is extended several times.
Eventually HR or a third-party leave administrator says something like: “We cannot continue your leave because you have been out longer than our policy allows and you have exhausted all of the leave you are entitled to.
Sometimes the employer has an internal policy setting a maximum amount of leave. Sometimes the employee is simply told the company cannot hold the job any longer.
A company policy does not determine what constitutes a reasonable accommodation under California law.
The analysis should focus on the individual circumstances—including the employee’s medical limitations, the essential functions of the job, the accommodation being requested, and whether providing it would create an undue hardship. California requires an individualized assessment rather than simply assuming the same answer applies to every disabled employee.
An employer’s maximum-leave policy therefore does not necessarily answer whether your particular additional leave request should have been accommodated.
What If I was Fired Right After Returning from Disability Leave?
Being allowed to return does not necessarily mean the problem is over.
Sometimes the sequence looks like this:
An employee develops a medical condition.
The employee takes leave.
The employee returns.
And suddenly the employee who previously had no serious performance problems begins receiving criticism, attendance write-ups, counseling, or discipline.
Then comes termination.
Timing alone does not prove discrimination or retaliation. But timing can be evidence, particularly when it is combined with other changes in the employer’s behavior.
We look at what was happening before the medical condition or leave and compare it with what happened afterward.
Were the alleged performance problems documented before the leave?
Did expectations suddenly change?
Were other employees treated differently?
Did the employer begin creating a paper trail immediately after the employee returned?
Did anyone make comments about the leave, medical condition, reliability, attendance, or future absences?
The chronology often matters.
The Reason Given for the Termination is Only the Beginning
Employers rarely tell an employee that the employee is being fired “because of the employee’s disability.” Employers of course focus on the alleged consequences of an employee’s need for time off for a health condition. Some examples include,
- “You have accrued attendance points resulting in termination.”
- We had no choice but to replace you because of the busy season.
- You have abandoned your job because you have stayed out on leave longer than company policy allows.
- We cannot burden other employees with covering for you any longer.”
In litigating disability cases, I don’t simply accept the reason written on the termination paperwork. I look at the chronology, the employer’s communications, leave and attendance records, performance history, accommodation discussions, and what changed after the employer learned about the medical condition.
In one of my cases, the employer argued that it could no longer accommodate not having someone at work in the employee’s position. During the litigation, we learned that the employer did not even post the job until eight months after firing the employee. In another case, the employer said it could no longer burden the employee’s coworkers with the employee’s job duties, but in the litigation, the coworkers all testified that it was no problem to cover for the employee and they were happy to help out as long as they were needed.
What Evidence Matters If You Were Fired While on Disability?
If you think your disability or medical leave played a role in your termination, documents created before the dispute arose all the way through termination are all potentially very important.
These may include:
- doctor’s notes and work-status reports;
- FMLA, CFRA or medical-leave paperwork;
- emails and text messages with HR or your manager;
- communications with a third-party leave administrator;
- disability-benefit records;
- accommodation requests and responses;
- attendance records and write-ups;
- performance evaluations;
- disciplinary notices;
- return-to-work restrictions;
- the termination letter; and
- communications showing what the employer knew and when it knew it.
Don’t assume a document hurts your case merely because your employer relies upon it.
The significance of a document often depends on how it fits into the larger chronology. For example, in several of my cases, the employers have relied on a third party leave administrator having failed to “approve” the employee’s claim for disability benefits as the reason to deny the disability leave and terminate the employee for the “unapproved” absences. The termination documents generally describe that “[3rd Party Admin] denied [employee Smith’s] disability claim. The absences were therefore unapproved and the employee exceeded the allowable absences resulting in termination.” The employer thinks these documents are evidence supporting them, when in fact they show how the employer relied on another party’s decision on disability benefits instead of complying with the clear law requiring the employer to carry out its own evaluation of the circumstances and apply laws regarding disability accommodations NOT laws related to disability insurance benefits.
Often, in cases involving health-related reasons for termination, what the employers relied on as the justification for firing an employee ends up being the key evidence proving that the firing was not only unjustified, but it was unlawful.
What if my disability is a mental health condition such as anxiety or depression?
California disability protections are not limited to visible physical disabilities. California recognizes both physical and mental disabilities, and its definition of disability is broad.
Depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mental health conditions can certainly qualify as disabilities.
The same basic accommodation principles can apply: the question is not whether coworkers can see your condition. The question is whether you have a protected disability and, where accommodation is at issue, what reasonable accommodation would allow you to perform the essential functions of your job.
Frequently Asked Questions About Being Fired On Disability
Can I be fired while on disability in California?
Yes, in some circumstances. Being on disability does not prevent every termination. But an employer generally cannot terminate you because of a protected disability, and it may have obligations to provide reasonable accommodation and engage in the interactive process before terminating you because your medical condition prevents you from working in the usual manner.
Can I be fired after using all twelve weeks of FMLA or CFRA leave?
Possibly, but exhausting FMLA or CFRA does not necessarily eliminate your rights under California disability law. Additional medical leave can sometimes be a reasonable accommodation depending on the circumstances.
What if my employer tells me I have to return to work without restrictions or I will be terminated?
That deserves careful review. An employer generally should evaluate whether an employee can perform the essential functions of the job with reasonable accommodation, rather than simply assuming that every employee must be completely restriction-free. California disability accommodation requires an individualized analysis.
Can I be fired immediately after returning from disability leave?
An employer can terminate an employee after medical leave for a legitimate reason unrelated to the disability or leave. But a termination shortly after returning may warrant closer examination, particularly if the employer’s treatment of you changed after your disability or leave.
Can my employer replace me while I am on disability leave?
The answer depends on what legal protections apply to your leave and the circumstances surrounding the employer’s decision. The fact that an employer says it “needed to fill the position” does not necessarily resolve whether additional leave or another accommodation was required.
What if HR tells me I can reapply after my doctor releases me?
That can be significant. If the employer is ending your employment because you are presently unable to work but acknowledges that you may soon be able to return, the circumstances surrounding the termination and the employer’s accommodation process deserve careful examination.
Can my employer fire me after my disability benefits run out?
Yes, in some circumstances. Being on disability does not prevent every termination. But an employer generally cannot terminate you because of a protected disability, and it may have obligations to provide reasonable accommodation and engage in the interactive process before terminating you because your medical condition prevents you from working in the usual manner.
Fired while on disability? Tell me what happened.
If you were fired while receiving disability benefits, while on medical leave, after requesting additional leave, or shortly after returning to work, you do not need to figure out which employment law applies before contacting me.
That’s my job.
Tell me what happened, what your employer knew about your medical condition, what your doctor said about returning to work, and what reason the employer gave for ending your employment.
I can review the circumstances and help you understand whether your employer may have violated California law.