Takeaway: A claim for discrimination based on a workplace injury or the filing of a workers' compensation claim does not examine the same issues as a claim for disability bias under California's Fair Employment and Housing Act.
A decision by the California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) denying an employee's claim of disability discrimination under Labor Code Section 132a did not prevent the employee from going forward with her claims of disability bias and failure to provide reasonable accommodation under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), a California appeals court ruled.
Labor Code Section 132a proscribes a relatively narrow range of discriminatory conduct by employers, intended to protect employees who are injured on the job and who file for workers' compensation benefits. FEHA, the court explained, targets a much broader range of discriminatory conduct and imposes affirmative duties on employers as to disabled employees.
The employee, who worked as a monitor at a chicken processing facility, slipped at work while wearing company-issued rubber boots and broke her left wrist. Following surgery to address the broken wrist, the employee was restricted in the use of her left hand and wrist for work. The restrictions included no heavy work and no pulling, pushing, pinching or lifting heavy weights with her left hand.
The employee returned to her regular position as a monitor with no modification to her duties. She told her supervisor that she needed...
WANA (Oct 04) – Iran’s permanent mission to international organizations in Vienna has rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that Iran had been producing drugs at its nuclear facilities, des...