Can I be fired for
Can I be fired for a medical condition in California?
FEHA protects disability and medical conditions with a definition broad enough to cover most diagnoses, injuries, and mental health conditions.
The Short Answer
A firing is unlawful when the condition motivated it, or when the employer skipped the accommodation process it owed you first. That second path surprises people: the failure to engage is its own violation, separate from the termination.
What Counts as a Protected Medical Condition?
Broader than most readers assume. Chronic illness, injuries, cancer history, pregnancy related conditions, PTSD, anxiety, and depression all can qualify.
The definition under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), the state’s main workplace discrimination law, is wider than the federal ADA, because California dropped the ADA’s “substantially limits” requirement. If you were told you do not qualify under federal standards, that answer may not settle the California question.
The Accommodation Conversation Your Employer Owed You
The law calls it the interactive process. In plain English: you flag a limitation, the employer engages in good faith about what adjustments would let you keep working, and the two of you land somewhere workable. Leave itself can be the accommodation.
Skipping this process is a standalone FEHA violation. An employer that never had the conversation has a problem even if the accommodation would have been hard to provide.
- Schedule changes or a modified shift
- Remote or hybrid work where the role allows
- Equipment, seating, or physical adjustments
- Reassignment to a vacant position
- A finite period of additional leave
When Can an Employer Lawfully Terminate Someone With a Medical Condition?
Stating the limits honestly is more useful than pretending they do not exist. An employer can terminate lawfully when you cannot perform the essential functions of the job even with accommodation, when a specific accommodation would be a genuine undue hardship, or for misconduct unrelated to the condition.
Each of those is a defense the employer has to prove, not a label it gets to assert.
Fired While on Medical Leave, or Right After
Two different theories apply. Interference means the employer blocked or burdened leave you qualified for, and it does not require proof of bad motive. Retaliation means it punished you for taking leave.
The patterns to look for: a termination that lands on or near your return date, and a position “eliminated” while you were out. CFRA and FMLA violations
Deadlines. FEHA claims run 3 years to file with the California Civil Rights Department, the state agency that handles discrimination complaints, then 1 year from the right to sue letter. Full deadline table
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to disclose my diagnosis?
No. You disclose the limitation and the adjustment you need. The specific diagnosis can stay private within limits.
They said they cannot hold my job forever.
Finite additional leave can be a reasonable accommodation. Indefinite leave is the line.
Is stress or anxiety enough?
Covered when it limits a major life activity. Treatment records help considerably.
Employment Law Resources
- California Civil Rights Department, disability and reasonable accommodation
- Government Code section 12940, disability discrimination and the interactive process
- Government Code section 12926, definition of disability
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