In Weaving v City of Hillsboro, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal made an important distinction of when ADHD symptoms make it a qualifying disability under ADA and when they don’t. In dismissing the Weaving’s case, the court reiterated that as per the Court’s decision in McAlindin v City of…
San Francisco Employment Law Firm Blog
Truck Drivers Determined to Be Employees Again
Over the past few years, a number of cases in California regarding whether various drivers are employees or independent contractors have been reviewed by appellate courts, and many of them found drivers to be in fact employees. Garcia v Seacon Logix, Inc. (2015) is a recent case on point. In…
Section 1102.5 Anti-Retaliation Protection Explained
Section 1102.5(b) protects an employee from retaliation by his or her employer for disclosing information to a law enforcement agency where the employee has reasonable cause to believe that the information discloses a violation of state or federal law. Hager v. County of Los Angeles (2014). Section 1102.5(b) has been broadly…
Adobe Is Expanding Its Child / Parent Leave Policy
On Monday, Adobe Systems became the latest tech giant to sweeten its parental leave policy for its employees. The San Jose-based company is now offering new moms 26 weeks of paid time off through a combination of medical and parental leave. This is up from the nine weeks leave with…
When Depression is Not a Protected Disability Under ADA
A disgruntled employee who repeatedly threatened to shoot and kill his managers can’t sue his employer for disability discrimination even with a depression diagnosis, the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday. Timothy Mayo, a welder at PCC Structurals, told at least three of his co-workers that he wanted to bring a shotgun to…
Will Complaints on Facebook be Protected from Retaliation?
It is important to remember that the anti-retaliation provisions of Title VII and the similar California laws go far beyond protecting those employee who complain to the employer or a government agency about discrimination or harassment at workplace. The range of activities for which firing an employee would be considered…
Proving Your Retaliation Case Through Employer’s Lies
One of the important elements of proving a retaliation claim in an wrongful termination case is showing that the employer’s given reasons for termination are either inconsistent or plainly not true, which makes it look like the employer is trying to cover up the true reason for retaliating against you…
Nurse Wins a Retaliation Case After Reporting Unlicensed Social Worker
On April 28, 2015, the Los Angeles Superior Court jury returned a verdict for a plaintiff-nurse in the amount of $299,000 in a retaliation and wrongful termination case against her employers – a hospice and a home health agency. The plaintiff, Vanessa Manuel, worked part time as a registered nurse…
Inability to Work With a Particular Supervisor is Not a Disability
Generally, an employee who suffers from anxiety / stress depression as a result of working for a particular supervisor is not entitled to having a different manager as a reasonable accommodation to that disability. This is because inability to work with a specific supervisor is not a disability and does…
When ADHD Qualifies as a Disability under ADA / FEHA
In Weaving v City of Hillsboro, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal made an important distinction of when ADHD symptoms make the condition a qualifying disability under ADA, and when they don’t. In dismissing Weaving’s case, the court reiterated that as per the Court’s decision in McAlindin v City of…