Fair Employment Housing Claims / Civil Rights / Failure to Accommodate Disability

Disability Accommodation - Don Featherstone, P.L.C.

Representing Small and Large Businesses in All Employment Law Matters

Every action that an employer takes in response to a Worker’s Compensation claim can have a significant impact on subsequent claims such as the following:

• civil rights claims alleging discrimination based on characteristics such as age, disability, race, color, national origin, or gender
• claims of failure to accommodate disability
• Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) violations claims separate from disability discrimination claims

Southern California employers in need of counsel or legal advocacy in anticipation of, or in response to, any such claims – including Workers’ Comp claims – are urged to contact the law offices of Don Featherstone, P.L.C.

An experienced employment law attorney such as Don Featherstone can alert employers to precautions and compliance issues such as the requirement that an employer meet with an employee upon request to discuss accommodations relevant to a disability.

Often, the disability in question in a civil rights, FEHA, or failure to accommodate disabilities claim has come about as a result of an injury that was at the center of a Workers’ Comp claim. The law offices of Don Featherstone, P.L.C., maintain a thriving practice that encompasses both Workers’ Compensation defense and civil rights or FEHA claims.

California disability in employment law is governed by the Fair Employment & Housing Act (FEHA), which is found in Government Code section 12900, et seq. California's employment disability discrimination laws can come into play in a variety of circumstances in the course of a regular workers' compensation claim. An employer might terminate an employee after the employee suffers an industrial injury or because the employee filed or threatened to file a workers' compensation claim. An employee who has a pending claim might want or need to return to work upon a P&S finding, but might have difficulty doing his or her former job in light of the medical restrictions placed by the doctors. An employee might request that he or she be allowed to return to work, but the employer responds that no modified or alternative work duty is available in light of the medical restrictions imposed by the employee's doctors. With the legislative changes to the vocational rehabilitation benefits available in the comp setting effective in 2004, issues regarding whether the employee/applicant who seeks to return to work requires or is getting "reasonable accommodations" from the employer are likely to become commonplace. To deal with any of these situations, and to spot when the client can benefit from the guidance of employment counsel, the applicant's attorney must have at least a basic understanding of the employer's obligations and duties in dealing with a disabled employee.

Disability accommodation claim defense lawyer Don Featherstone was certified as a Workers’ Compensation specialist in California years ago. After he had accumulated a rich depth of experience handling Workers’ Comp claims for employees, his practice evolved to focus on defense. Today, the law offices of Don Featherstone, P.L.C., applies knowledge gained through this Workers’ Comp claims practice to representation of employers.

To schedule a consultation, whether precautionary or in response to a claim, contact the California FEHA and disability accommodation law firm of Don Featherstone, P.L.C.