California law protects several types of medical leave, including time off for your own serious health issue, caring for a family member facing a serious health condition, bonding with a new child or addressing military family needs. Both the CFRA and FMLA provide job-protected leave, with CFRA offering broader protections, including coverage for domestic partners and smaller employers with five or more employees.
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(415) 444-5800Medical Leave Interference & Discrimination
San Francisco Medical Leave Interference & Discrimination Lawyer
The California Family Rights Act (CFRA) allows qualifying Californians to take family care leave or medical leave without facing punitive measures or fear of losing their job. It’s one of many laws that ensure employees can take care of themselves and their families when they need to without worrying about retaliation.
Unfortunately, there are many California employers that ignore the CFRA or don’t understand its protections. As a result, employees are often terminated for requesting or taking leave or subjected to harassment and retaliation upon returning. If these circumstances sound familiar, you can count on our medical leave interference and discrimination attorney to provide you with the quality legal counsel you deserve.
Your Rights Under CFRA
The CFRA is similar to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Both Acts give eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected medical leave each year to attend to their own serious health condition, care for a newborn or foster child, or care for a family member with a serious medical condition. One substantial difference between the two is that FMLA doesn’t allow employees protection if they take time off to care for a registered domestic partner, but thankfully for California workers, CFRA does.
“Job-protected leave” means that you must be reinstated to the same position or a comparable one when you return from leave. A “comparable position” is employment in a position virtually identical to the employee’s original position in terms of pay, benefits, and working conditions, including location and shift/work schedule.
It must involve the same or substantially similar duties and responsibilities, which must entail substantially equivalent skill, effort, responsibility, and authority. Only under very limited circumstances can an employer refuse to honor the reinstatement guarantee.
To be eligible for the CFRA, your employer must employ more than 5 employees in the United States, and you must have worked for the employer for more than 12 months and at least 1250 hours in the 12 months before your requested leave begins.
What is Medical Leave Retaliation and Interference?
Under the CFRA, employers are prohibited from discriminating against or terminating employees in retaliation for exercising their rights to request or take CFRA leave. Employers are also forbidden from interfering with, restraining, or denying an employee’s exercise of their CFRA rights.
Interference Claims
To prove a claim for CFRA interference or discrimination, an employee must show that:
- The employer is covered by the CFRA
- The employee is eligible for CFRA leave
- The employee requested leave for a qualifying purpose
- The employer interfered with or denied the employee CFRA leave, or any other benefit under the CFRA
Retaliation Claims
To establish a claim for CFRA retaliation, an employee must prove that:
- The employee requested or took CFRA qualifying leave.
- The employer subjected the employee to an adverse employment action, such as demotion, reassignment, termination, or other negative change to the terms and conditions of employment.
- There is a causal connection between the employee’s CFRA activity and the adverse/retaliatory employment action.
Although these claims can be difficult to prove, you can significantly improve your chances of successfully obtaining compensation by working with a skilled medical leave interference and discrimination lawyer.
Clients We Represent
Former employees come to us after a wide range of experiences with medical leave interference and discrimination. While every case is different, we frequently work with individuals who were:
- Pressured to quit during approved leave: Your employer had already approved your leave, then turned around and told you to resign, come back early, or lose your job entirely.
- Terminated for job abandonment despite communicating your absence: You kept your employer informed about your medical condition and need for time away, yet your employer treated your absence as though you had disappeared without notice and ended your employment on that basis.
- Fired due to accumulated attendance points from medical absences: Ongoing treatments, appointments, or symptom flare-ups required you to miss work periodically, and your employer used those absences to build a case against you until you were let go.
We understand what it feels like to lose a job you needed to keep, especially when that loss followed a request most employers are legally required to honor. We work to hold employers accountable when they ignore the protections California law provides.
How an Attorney Can Assist You
California and federal law provide real protections for employees who need medical leave, but proving that an employer violated those protections requires a clear understanding of the relevant statutes and a strategic approach to building your case. Here is what our process typically involves:
- Reviewing your eligibility and the timeline of events: We examine whether the CFRA or FMLA applied to your situation, including whether your employer met the size and hour requirements the law sets out.
- Identifying interference versus retaliation: We determine which claims apply to your case. Interference occurs when an employer denies or discourages the use of protected leave, while retaliation occurs when an employer takes adverse action, such as termination or demotion, because you requested or took leave.
- Gathering supporting evidence: We help collect documentation, including written communications, performance records, and witness accounts, that demonstrate how your employer’s actions connect to your leave.
- Pursuing compensation: We advocate for recovery of lost wages, emotional distress damages, and other remedies available under California law.
Why Hire Jeannette A. Vaccaro?
When your livelihood and health are at stake, the attorney you choose matters more than most people realize. Jeannette A. Vaccaro has spent her career exclusively representing employees in California, with a sharp focus on cases involving medical leave interference and retaliation. Here is what sets her apart:
- Exclusive focus on employee representation: We never represent employers. Every case we take on is dedicated to advocating for workers who have been wronged.
- A track record of results: We have recovered over $20 million for employees, including a settlement in a medical leave retaliation case.
- Recognized legal skill: Attorney Jeannette A. Vaccaro has earned recognition as a Super Lawyer and one of the Top Women Lawyers in Northern California for nearly a decade running.
- Personal attention to each case: We take the time to understand the full context of what happened to you rather than treating your situation as one of many files on a desk.
- A free case evaluation: We offer a no-cost consultation so you can understand your options before making any decisions.
File a Claim With a Discrimination Lawyer
If you have been subjected to discrimination or retaliation, you need a fierce advocate who will stand up for your rights. An experienced medical leave interference and discrimination lawyer from the Law Offices of Jeannette A. Vaccaro PC can help. Contact us today to learn more about your rights.
FAQs About Medical Leave Interference in California
How do I qualify for protected medical leave in California?
To qualify for CFRA protection, you must work for an employer with five or more employees, have worked for your employer for a minimum of 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before your leave begins. FMLA has similar requirements but applies to employers with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius of your worksite.
What should I do if my employer denies my medical leave request?
Document the denial in writing and gather any supporting medical documentation that justifies your need for leave. Contact an experienced employment attorney immediately, as time limits apply to filing claims, and prompt action may be necessary to protect your job and legal rights.
What happens if my employer eliminates my position while I'm on medical leave?
Your employer can eliminate your position during your leave only if the elimination would have occurred regardless of your leave status. If the position elimination appears to be related to your leave or if comparable positions remain available, this may constitute unlawful interference or retaliation.
What if my employer tells me I need to find my own replacement while on medical leave?
Your employer cannot require you to find your own replacement as a condition of taking protected medical leave. Such a requirement would constitute interference with your leave rights and may be used as evidence of your employer’s unlawful intent to discourage leave usage.
How do I prove my employer interfered with my medical leave rights?
Evidence of interference can include written communications denying leave, witness testimony about verbal statements discouraging leave, documentation showing disparate treatment and records demonstrating your employer’s failure to provide required notices about your leave rights. A skilled attorney can assist you in efficiently collecting and presenting this evidence.
Think You May
Have A Case?
Jeannette is passionate about employee rights. She fights to shed light on injustices and to help her clients move beyond troubling times. Contact us today for a free case evaluation.
Jeannette A. Vaccaro is a Passionate and zealous advocate, representing employees in all facets of employment law.
Over
$20 MILLION
Recovered on Behalf of Employees
Think You May Have A Case?
Jeannette is passionate about employee rights. She fights to shed light on injustices and to help her clients move beyond troubling times. Contact us today for a free case evaluation.
$2,000,000
Settlement after arbitration in a disability discrimination case involving a tech worker.
$1,822,000
Settlement after successful jury verdict in disability discrimination case.
$1,021,000
Arbitration award in race harassment and discrimination suit.
$924,000
Arbitration award obtained on behalf of employee terminated on account of his national origin.
$800,000
Settlement on behalf of a janitor in a medical leave retaliation case.
$475,000
Settlement for employee that was retaliated against on account of reporting discrimination.
$425,000
Settlement for employee discriminated against on account of her gender.
$425,000
Pre-litigation settlement for victim of race & national origin discrimination.
$400,000
Settlement negotiated in a gender discrimination case.
What Our Clients Say
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