At Makarem & Associates, we often hear from employees who are trying to do exactly what their doctors have told them to do: take time away from work, recover, and provide their employer with updated medical documentation along the way. That is the situation at the center of our client’s lawsuit against Foster Farms, LLC. According to the complaint, our client worked for Foster Farms as a box machine attendant and was qualified for her position and performing her job duties well. After pregnancy-related medical issues required her to take leave, she repeatedly provided Foster Farms with doctor’s notes and other medical documentation explaining why she could not yet return to work. The lawsuit alleges that instead of working with her to determine whether continued leave or another accommodation was appropriate, Foster Farms terminated her while she was still on doctor-approved disability leave.
A Medical Leave Supported by Repeated Doctor’s Notes
According to the complaint, our client’s leave was not unexplained or undocumented. Foster Farms allegedly received a series of medical certifications over the course of many months.
The complaint alleges that our client was placed on pregnancy leave beginning in December 2023. While she was out, Foster Farms sent her a letter stating that she had exhausted her available qualifying leave and that her health insurance would be terminated beginning January 1, 2024. Our client responded that her absence was related to her pregnancy and that she believed her health benefits should not be terminated. According to the lawsuit, Foster Farms told her it would look into the issue, but she did not receive a response.
In January 2024, our client provided a Certification of Health Care Provider confirming that she was receiving pregnancy-related medical treatment that prevented her from working and that she required disability leave through late April. Her doctors later extended that leave. In March, she submitted another note extending the leave into May. In May, she provided an ADA Medical Assessment Form stating that she was experiencing postpartum depression and needed additional disability leave. Her leave was then extended through September and, later, through December 17, 2024.
By that point, the complaint alleges, Foster Farms had received repeated notice that our client remained under medical care and continued to require leave.
Terminated Before Her Medical Leave Ended
Despite those updates, the complaint alleges that Foster Farms terminated our client on November 18, 2024, while she was still on doctor-approved disability leave.
That timing is a central part of the case. According to the complaint, Foster Farms had received a doctor’s note in September extending our client’s leave through December 17. She was terminated approximately one month before that period was scheduled to end.
The lawsuit alleges that Foster Farms did not simply deny a particular leave request. It alleges that the company failed to meaningfully engage with our client about possible accommodations and ultimately terminated her because of her disability, medical leave, and requests for accommodation. The complaint states that rather than providing disability leave as a reasonable accommodation and participating in the interactive process, Foster Farms ignored our client and her doctor’s requests before ending her employment.
Pregnancy and Disability Protections Can Overlap
Our client’s lawsuit brings claims under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, or FEHA, for both disability discrimination and sex discrimination.
The complaint explains that California law prohibits employment discrimination because of physical or mental disability. It further alleges that our client was qualified to perform the essential functions of her position with or without reasonable accommodation, but that Foster Farms discriminated against her because of her disability, medical leave, and requests for accommodation.
The lawsuit also brings a separate sex discrimination claim based on pregnancy and pregnancy-related medical conditions. As the complaint explains, California law includes pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions within its protections against sex discrimination. According to the lawsuit, Foster Farms discriminated against our client by threatening her employment, refusing to engage in the interactive process, refusing to reasonably accommodate her pregnancy-related medical condition, and ultimately terminating her employment.
That overlap matters because an employee dealing with pregnancy-related medical complications may have more than one form of workplace protection at issue.
The Interactive Process Is More Than a Formality
Another major issue in the lawsuit is Foster Farms’ alleged failure to engage in the interactive process.
The complaint cites FEHA’s requirement that employers engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process with an employee who requests reasonable accommodation for a known disability or medical condition. The goal is to determine whether an effective reasonable accommodation is available.
According to the lawsuit, Foster Farms knew about our client’s medical condition, knew she was requesting leave, and had received repeated medical documentation supporting those requests. The complaint alleges that our client was willing to discuss accommodations and could perform the essential duties of her position with reasonable accommodation. Even so, Foster Farms allegedly terminated her while she remained on medical leave rather than engaging in that process.
The lawsuit also alleges that Foster Farms failed to take reasonable steps to prevent discrimination. According to the complaint, our client’s supervisors knew about her disability, medical leave, and accommodation requests, yet Foster Farms allegedly failed to prevent her termination, enforce its anti-discrimination obligations, or reinstate her after the termination occurred.
Retaliation on Top of the Accommodation Issues
The complaint does not stop with discrimination and failure to accommodate. It also alleges retaliation.
According to the lawsuit, our client engaged in protected activity by notifying Foster Farms about her disability, taking medical leave, and requesting reasonable accommodations. The complaint alleges that Foster Farms retaliated against her for those actions by ignoring her accommodation requests and terminating her while she remained on medical leave.
The complaint further alleges that our client’s disability, medical leave, and accommodation requests were substantial motivating reasons for the decision to terminate her and that any different explanation for the termination was pretextual.
For employees, that distinction is important. Asking for help because of a medical condition should not itself become the reason an employee is treated adversely.
What This Case Can Teach California Employees
Our client’s circumstances are specific to her, but the issues raised in the complaint are ones many employees encounter when pregnancy, disability, and medical leave overlap.
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Keep your medical documentation. Doctor’s notes, certifications, accommodation requests, emails, and letters can become important evidence of what your employer knew and when it knew it.
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Continue updating your employer if your condition changes. In this case, the complaint alleges that our client repeatedly provided new documentation as her doctors extended her leave.
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A statement that one type of leave has been exhausted may not end the discussion. The lawsuit alleges that Foster Farms told our client she had exhausted available qualifying leave, but she continued to provide medical documentation and request disability leave as an accommodation.
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Pregnancy-related conditions can raise multiple legal issues. Depending on the circumstances, pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum conditions, and related disabilities may implicate different workplace protections.
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Pay attention to how your employer responds to an accommodation request. If an employer stops communicating, refuses to discuss accommodations, or takes adverse action while an employee remains on documented medical leave, those circumstances may be significant.
Where the Case Stands
Makarem & Associates filed the lawsuit against Foster Farms in Merced County Superior Court. The complaint asserts claims for disability discrimination, sex discrimination, failure to engage in the interactive process, failure to accommodate, failure to prevent discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination in violation of public policy.
The lawsuit seeks damages and other relief arising from the alleged termination of our client while she was on doctor-approved disability leave.
If you are dealing with pregnancy-related medical conditions, disability leave, or a request for reasonable accommodation at work, you do not have to navigate those issues alone. Makarem & Associates represents employees throughout California in discrimination, retaliation, failure-to-accommodate, and wrongful termination matters.
This article is based on allegations made in a publicly filed legal complaint. The allegations described have not yet been proven in court, and Foster Farms is entitled to respond and defend itself. Our client’s name and personal identifying details have been withheld out of respect for her privacy. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
