You told your supervisor about your diabetes to explain why you need breaks to check your blood sugar. And suddenly you started receiving write-ups for things that were never an issue before. Or you told HR you had depression because you needed days for therapy, and your manager began making comments about you being "unreliable." Or you were diagnosed with cancer, asked for time off for chemotherapy, and the company terminated you saying they needed someone "dependable."
What you are experiencing has a name: medical condition discrimination. And in California, it is completely illegal.
My name is Arlo Uriarte. I am an employment attorney at Liberation Law Group and I have spent over 30 years filing medical condition discrimination cases on behalf of workers in San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, and throughout Northern California — workers with diabetes, cancer, depression, heart conditions, epilepsy, chronic migraines, and dozens of other conditions that their employers illegally used as the basis for treating them differently. We are a plaintiff's firm — we file cases, we fight for workers, and we do not defend employers. Our office is at 2760 Mission Street in the Mission District, three minutes from 24th Street BART.
If your employer is discriminating against you because of a medical condition, call today for a free consultation in Spanish or English. No cost, no obligation, regardless of immigration status.
What Is Medical Condition Discrimination?
Medical condition discrimination occurs when an employer makes an unfavorable employment decision — refusing to hire, terminating, failing to promote, denying accommodations, or creating a hostile work environment — based on a worker's health condition, whether current, past, or perceived.
California's FEHA specifically protects workers with "medical conditions" — a term that encompasses both physical illnesses and mental health conditions. The protection is broad: if a condition limits a major life activity, or is perceived as doing so by the employer, you have legal protection. The ADA provides additional federal protection for conditions that "substantially limit" a major life activity, though California's standard is easier to meet — which is why we almost always file under FEHA.
The Medical Conditions We See Discriminated Against Most Often
Physical Conditions
- Diabetes — the single most common medical condition in the cases we file in San Francisco
- Cancer — at any stage, including a history of cancer that is already in remission
- Heart and cardiovascular conditions — including uncontrolled hypertension
- Arthritis and chronic back pain — extremely common in physical jobs
- Epilepsy and seizure disorders
- Chronic migraines — frequently not recognized as a protected medical condition
- Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, and neurological conditions
- HIV/AIDS
- Autoimmune diseases such as lupus or fibromyalgia
- Workplace injuries that became chronic conditions
Mental Health Conditions — Equally Protected Under California Law
- Clinical depression — one of the most frequently stigmatized conditions in the workplace
- Generalized anxiety disorder and panic attacks
- PTSD — including PTSD related to prior workplace experiences
- Bipolar disorder
- ADHD
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
An important point: the law protects not only your current condition but also your medical history. If you are discriminated against because of cancer you overcame three years ago, that is still illegal discrimination. The law also protects conditions the employer perceives you to have, even if you do not actually have them.
30+ years filing medical condition discrimination cases in San Francisco. We represent employees — never employers. No fee unless we win.
1-888-442-2642 or request your free case evaluation hereThe Clearest Signs of Medical Condition Discrimination
Changes After Disclosing Your Condition
- You were treated well until your employer learned of your condition — then everything changed
- Write-ups and negative documentation started appearing that never existed before
- You were excluded from meetings, projects, or work events
- Your supervisor began making comments about your health, medications, or "reliability"
- Performance evaluations became negative after years of positive reviews — with no change in your work
Denial of Accommodations You Need
- Refused flexible scheduling for medical appointments
- Not permitted to take additional breaks for medication or symptom management
- Refused modifications to your workspace for your condition
- Not allowed to work from home temporarily during treatment
- Told "if you can't do the job, resign" — without any exploration of alternatives
Retaliation for Requesting Help or Taking Medical Leave
- Terminated shortly after requesting medical leave or FMLA/CFRA
- Hours reduced when you returned from medical leave
- Transferred to a worse position or shift after your medical absence
- Hostile work environment created to pressure you into resigning
Read more about workplace retaliation and how it applies to workers with medical conditions.
Do You Have to Tell Your Employer About Your Medical Condition?
This is one of the most important — and most strategic — questions we address in consultations. The right answer depends entirely on your specific situation.
- You are in the interview process — the law prohibits medical questions before a job offer
- You can perform your job without any special accommodations
- Your condition is well controlled with medication
- Your condition does not currently affect your ability to work
- You need specific accommodations to perform your job
- Your condition could create an emergency situation at work
- You need time off for treatment or medical procedures
- Your performance may be temporarily affected by your condition or treatment
An important warning: disclosing a medical condition activates the employer's legal protections for you — but it can also activate discrimination. How and when you disclose matters enormously. Before telling your employer anything about your medical condition, call an employment attorney. A five-minute conversation can change the entire strategy. Our consultation is completely free. Call 1-888-442-2642.
Your Medical Privacy Rights at Work
Many workers do not know they have specific medical privacy rights — independent of whether they have been discriminated against. California law establishes clear rules about what your employer can and cannot do with your medical information.
Your employer CANNOT:
- Tell other employees about your medical condition without your consent
- Ask for unnecessary medical details — they may only ask about functional limitations relevant to your job
- Require you to disclose your full diagnosis — they only need to know what accommodations you require
- Use your medical information to make adverse employment decisions
- Keep your medical documentation in your regular personnel file — it must be stored separately in confidential files
When an employer violates these medical privacy rules — sharing your diagnosis with colleagues without your permission, for example — that is an additional, independent legal violation that can increase the available damages in your case. It also demonstrates that the employer did not handle your condition with the care the law requires.
The "You're Too Expensive" Argument — An Illegal Pattern
One of the most troubling patterns we see is an employer making employment decisions based on the health insurance cost of a worker. "Your health conditions make insurance too expensive." "With your medical history, we can't afford to keep you on the team." "We're looking to reduce benefits costs."
All of this is illegal discrimination under California's FEHA — without exception. Health insurance costs are not a legitimate reason for any employment decision, including hiring, termination, or denial of benefits. There is no "business necessity" defense available for this kind of reasoning.
The same applies to arguments about "future performance." Firing a worker with cancer because they "will probably need a lot of time off in the future" is discrimination based on a perceived future impact of a medical condition — which is itself a protected category under California law. The law protects workers as they are today, not as the employer imagines they might be.
Real Cases in San Francisco & the Bay Area
These are real cases that have occurred in the Bay Area. If your situation is similar, call Arlo Uriarte for a free evaluation.
A cashier with diabetes needed to check her blood sugar every few hours. Her supervisor shouted that she should "stop being dramatic" and prohibited the additional breaks. When she collapsed at work from being unable to manage her condition, she was terminated for "creating problems." The worker recovered $45,000 and her job back.
A warehouse worker told his manager about his depression to explain why he needed days off for therapy. Afterward, the supervisor began making comments like "you're crazy" in front of other employees and terminated him saying they "couldn't trust someone unstable." $75,000 for discrimination and hostile work environment based on a mental health condition.
An office employee diagnosed with cancer requested time off for chemotherapy. Instead of granting the required medical leave, the company terminated her saying they "needed someone dependable." The worker recovered $125,000 plus reinstatement to her position. The company was also required to revise its medical leave policies.
A worker with chronic migraines requested the ability to work from home during the most severe episodes. The employer refused to explore options. He was eventually terminated for "absenteeism" — absences that would have been unnecessary had the requested accommodation been provided. Case resolved by confidential settlement before trial.
* These cases are presented for informational purposes. Past outcomes do not guarantee future results. Each case is unique.
Arlo Uriarte — Employment Attorney — evaluates your case for free and tells you honestly what your options are.
1-888-442-2642 or request your free case evaluationMedical Condition Discrimination by Industry in San Francisco
Technology — SoMa and South Bay
Tech companies operate with a "high-output" culture that frequently conflicts with the needs of employees with medical conditions. We file cases involving denials of remote work for people with chronic conditions, and layoffs disguised as business decisions that disproportionately target employees with known medical conditions — the people HR knows about from accommodation requests or medical leave paperwork.
Restaurants and Hospitality — Mission District, North Beach, Union Square
In San Francisco's restaurant industry — from the restaurants of North Beach near Washington Square Park to the hotels around Union Square — medical condition discrimination often takes the form of refusing flexible scheduling for medical appointments, or terminating workers when they need time for treatment. Cashiers, servers, and cleaning staff with diabetes or chronic pain conditions are especially vulnerable.
Healthcare — UCSF, SF General, Excelsior Clinics
Ironically, hospitals and clinics frequently discriminate against their own employees for medical conditions. We have handled cases at Bay Area healthcare institutions where healthcare workers with chronic conditions were treated worse than the patients they are supposed to care for. San Francisco juries react with particular force when healthcare institutions do not practice what they preach.
Construction — Mission Bay, Bayview-Hunters Point
At construction sites near Chase Center in Mission Bay and in Bayview-Hunters Point, workers with pre-existing medical conditions — especially back conditions or cardiovascular conditions — are discriminated against under the pretext of "safety concerns." Genuine safety concerns are manageable with reasonable accommodations; using them as an excuse to discriminate is illegal.
What to Do Now
Write in a private journal at home — not on company devices — about each discriminatory incident with exact dates, who was present, and what was said. Comments about your health or medications are especially important to document.
If you have positive evaluations from before your diagnosis or before disclosing your condition, those are powerful evidence that the change in treatment is tied to your medical condition — not your work quality.
Preserve all medical documents you gave the employer, the accommodation requests you made, and any response — or non-response — you received. The connection between the accommodation request and the change in treatment is often the core of the case.
Before telling your employer more about your condition, or before filing a formal HR complaint, speak with an attorney. The strategy for if, when, and how to disclose medical information matters enormously. Our consultation is completely free. Call 1-888-442-2642.
Under FEHA, 3 years. For the EEOC under ADA, 300 days. Acting early preserves evidence and gives us more legal options. Call 1-888-442-2642 — available 24/7 in Spanish and English.
What You Can Recover
Medical condition discrimination cases under California's FEHA offer a robust set of available damages:
- Back pay — everything you would have earned from the discriminatory act through case resolution
- Lost benefits — health insurance, retirement contributions, paid vacation
- Unlimited emotional distress damages — FEHA places no statutory cap
- Punitive damages — for malicious or fraudulent conduct
- Reinstatement with full back pay — in many cases we recover the job
- Company policy changes — protecting future employees from the same treatment
- Attorney fees paid by the employer — in most successful employment cases
What Our Clients Say
"I needed breaks for my diabetes and my supervisor treated me like a problem. When I was fired, I thought there was nothing I could do. Liberation Law Group showed me there was. I recovered $45,000 and my job."
— Cashier, San Francisco (name protected by confidentiality)
"I told my manager about my depression because I needed days for therapy. They started calling me 'unstable' and fired me. I thought it was my fault for saying anything. Arlo Uriarte explained it was illegal discrimination. We won $75,000."
— Warehouse worker, Bay Area (name protected)
Where We Serve
Our office is at 2760 Mission Street, Second Floor in the Mission District — three minutes from 24th Street Mission BART, near Dolores Park. We handle cases throughout San Francisco (Mission, SoMa, Financial District, North Beach, Castro, Union Square, Bayview, Excelsior, Chinatown), Oakland (especially Fruitvale — 53.8% Hispanic), Hayward (40.7% Latino), San Jose, Napa County, Sonoma County, Santa Rosa, Marin County, Vallejo, San Mateo County, and all of Northern California.
Liberation Law Group — Workers' Rights Advocates · Fighting for Employees Since 2007 · Free Consultation in Spanish or English · No Fee Unless We Win.
1-888-442-2642 or request your free consultation onlineFrequently Asked Questions About Medical Condition Discrimination
Do I have to tell my employer about my medical condition?
Not always — and this is a critically important strategic decision. You are not required to disclose your condition during the interview process. You are not required to disclose it if you can perform your job without accommodations. You are not required to disclose it if your condition is well controlled with medication and does not affect your work.
You should consider disclosing when you need specific accommodations to do your job, when your condition could create an emergency situation at work, or when you need time off for treatment. The timing and framing of that disclosure matters enormously — a poorly handled conversation with HR can complicate your legal position significantly. Before deciding what to tell your employer about any medical condition, call 1-888-442-2642. The consultation is completely free.
Can my employer fire me while I am on medical leave?
No, with an extremely limited exception: only if the termination has absolutely nothing to do with your medical condition or the fact that you took leave. In practice, proving that is extraordinarily difficult for employers when the termination occurs during or immediately after medical leave. The timing alone is powerful evidence of discrimination.
Additionally, if you took leave under FMLA or California's CFRA (California Family Rights Act), those laws provide specific additional protections against termination during and after that leave period. Being terminated while on medical leave is one of the strongest patterns of discrimination we see. Call 1-888-442-2642 if this happened to you.
What if my employer says I am "too expensive" because of my medical condition?
That is illegal discrimination, without any exception. California's FEHA and the federal ADA explicitly prohibit using health insurance costs, anticipated absenteeism, or any financial consideration related to a medical condition as the basis for employment decisions. No "business necessity" defense is available for this kind of reasoning.
This argument is frequently among the easiest to establish before a San Francisco jury because the employer is essentially admitting that the reason for the termination is connected to the worker's health. If you were told something like this — directly or indirectly — call 1-888-442-2642 immediately. The consultation is completely free.
How long do I have to file a medical condition discrimination case in California?
Under California's FEHA, you have 3 years from the most recent discriminatory act to file a lawsuit in court. In San Francisco, that is San Francisco Superior Court at 400 McAllister Street near Civic Center BART. For the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), 1 year. For the EEOC under the federal ADA, 300 days.
Even with the three-year window, acting early consistently produces better outcomes. Digital evidence disappears. Witnesses change jobs. And the connection between your disclosure of a medical condition and the subsequent change in treatment is most visible when the case is recent. Call 1-888-442-2642 — the consultation is free.
Can my employer share my medical information with other employees?
No. California law — including FEHA, ADA, and the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) — protects the privacy of your medical information at work. Only employees who need to know in order to provide accommodations may be informed. All medical documentation must be kept in separate, confidential files entirely distinct from your regular personnel file.
If your employer shared your diagnosis or health information with colleagues without your consent, that is an additional, independent legal violation. It harms your workplace relationships, and it demonstrates that the employer failed to treat your medical information with the care the law requires. That bad faith is relevant to the value of your overall case. Call 1-888-442-2642.
How much money can I recover in a medical condition discrimination case?
Under FEHA you can recover back pay from the discriminatory act through case resolution, lost benefits including health insurance and retirement contributions, emotional distress damages with no statutory cap, punitive damages for malicious or fraudulent conduct, reinstatement with full back pay in many cases, and attorney fees paid by the employer in most successful cases.
In the Bay Area: $45,000 plus reinstatement for a cashier fired because of her diabetes; $75,000 for a worker discriminated against because of depression; $125,000 plus reinstatement for an employee with cancer. In cases combining medical condition discrimination with privacy violations or retaliation, amounts are frequently higher. Call 1-888-442-2642 for a free honest evaluation of your specific situation.
What medical documents do I need to prove my case?
Generally you need documentation from a physician explaining your condition and what functional limitations it creates — not necessarily your complete detailed medical record. What is most relevant is documentation of what accommodations you need and why. Equally or more important are your accommodation requests and the employer's responses, your performance evaluations before and after disclosing your condition, and any communications related to your condition.
If you do not have all of this documentation, do not be discouraged. Through the legal discovery process we can compel the employer to produce all internal emails about your situation, HR records, and management communications. Many cases have been won with minimal documentation from the worker but strong evidence extracted from the employer's own records. Call 1-888-442-2642.
What if I cannot perform all of my job functions because of my medical condition?
Your employer has a legal obligation to explore reasonable accommodations before terminating you for inability to perform all job functions. The correct process is the "interactive process" — a good-faith conversation to identify what accommodations might work. Only after genuine exploration demonstrates that no reasonable accommodation is possible — creating true undue hardship — can the employer consider termination.
In practice, employers frequently skip the interactive process entirely and terminate directly — which is itself an independent violation of FEHA. If you were fired without your employer genuinely exploring whether accommodations could have resolved the situation, that strengthens your case significantly. Call 1-888-442-2642 for a free evaluation of your specific facts.
Related pages: Workplace Discrimination · Disability Discrimination · Workplace Retaliation · Wrongful Termination · Pregnancy Discrimination · Age Discrimination
