California employers are not permitted to fire, demote, or discipline employees for requesting a disability accommodation. That protection is clear under both the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
What is less clear to most employees is exactly what the law requires, where the line is between legal and illegal employer conduct, and what to do when an employer crosses it. Here is what California law actually says.
The Reasonable Accommodation Requirement
California’s FEHA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with physical or mental disabilities — unless doing so would cause undue hardship. The ADA imposes the same obligation on employers with 15 or more employees; FEHA applies to employers with 5 or more.
A reasonable accommodation is any change to a job, work environment, or how work is performed that allows a qualified employee with a disability to do their job. Common examples include modified duties or schedules, remote work, additional leave, reassignment to a vacant position, and changes to workspace or equipment.
The Interactive Process
California law requires something most employees do not know about: before an employer can deny an accommodation request, they must engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process with the employee.
That interactive process is not optional. It is a separate legal requirement, and violating it is an independent FEHA violation even if the underlying accommodation request might ultimately have been denied. An employer who ignores an accommodation request, delays indefinitely, or flatly refuses without any discussion has violated the interactive process requirement.
Termination Instead of Accommodation
The most common employer error is terminating an employee rather than engaging in the interactive process. When that happens, the employer has likely committed multiple violations simultaneously: failure to accommodate, failure to engage in the interactive process, and disability discrimination.
The fact that the employer may have had a legitimate business reason for some employment decision does not excuse the failure to at least explore accommodation before taking adverse action.
What FEHA Provides That the ADA Does Not
California’s FEHA is materially broader than the federal ADA. FEHA defines disability more broadly — a condition that limits a major life activity may qualify, not just one that substantially limits it. FEHA covers employers with as few as 5 employees versus the ADA’s threshold of 15 or more. FEHA’s remedies include emotional distress damages and attorney fees, with a three-year statute of limitations compared to the EEOC’s 300-day deadline.
Retaliation for Requesting an Accommodation
California law also prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who request accommodations or take protected medical leave. Retaliation includes anything that would dissuade a reasonable employee from exercising their rights — a demotion, a negative performance review, a schedule change, an increase in scrutiny, or a termination.
Timing matters. An employer who issues a write-up two weeks after an employee discloses a medical condition and requests leave is generating strong evidence of retaliation.
The employer’s obligation is not to grant every accommodation request. It is to engage in a genuine, timely, good-faith discussion about what accommodations are possible. The failure to have that discussion is itself a violation.
