In Department of Fair Employment and Housing v. Lucent Technologies, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that under California law, an employer was not required to provide an indefinite leave of absence as a reasonable accommodation to an employee’s disability.

Plaintiff Steven Carauddo was an installer for Lucent and was often required to do heavy lifting as part of his job.  While working, Plaintiff was injured and was no longer able to perform all essentially duties of his job, which included heavy lifting.  As a result of the injuries, Lucent put Plaintiff on a leave of absence.  Lucent’s policy, however, stated that if an injured employee was unable to return to work within one year, the employee would be terminated.  There was on exception to the  policy; if a doctor determined that the employee could return to work within six months, the employee would not be terminated at the end of the twelve months.

After Plaintiff went out on leave, he kept in contact with Lucent.  After one year passed, the Plaintiff was still unable to perform all duties, e.g. he had a weight restriction on lifting. Plaintiff was then terminated.  Two months later, Plaintiff was cleared for work with no restrictions.  Lucent refused to re-hire Plaintiff.  As a result, Plaintiff (though the DFEH) filed suit against Lucent for disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, and failure to engage in the interactive process.  The district court granted summary judgment for Lucent and dismissed the case.  Plaintiff appealed. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Lucent’s favor.  In doing so, the Court held that 12 months leave of absence was sufficient and that Lucent was not required to provide an indefinite leave of absence.

If you need a leave of absence or were terminated while on a leave of absence, you should immediately seek legal counsel.

For more information, or if you need legal assistance, please contact the Wagner Legal Group, P.C. at (310) 857-5293 or fill out our contact form on the website.