Typically, workers’ compensation is the only remedy for an employee who is injured on-the-job. But a California Court of Appeal now says that if the injury stems from your not reasonably accommodating an employee’s disability, the employee can bypass workers’ comp and sue you for damages.
Disabled Employee Injured At Work
Marilyn Bagatti was an accounting clerk for the California Department of Rehabilitation in Sacramento. As a result of polio, she had difficulty walking far, moving around her work site and getting from her car to her work station. She requested that the department accommodate her by providing motorized transportation at work or installing hand railings in the hallways. The department refused.
A few months later, Bagatti broke her leg and ankle as a result of having to walk a long distance at work. She had to undergo several surgeries and couldn’t return to work.
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Employee Says Failure To Accommodate Caused Injury
Bagatti sued, claiming the department’s failure to reasonably accommodate her disability violated the California
Fair Employment and Housing
Act and led directly to her injuries. The department asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit because workers’ compensation was the sole remedy for Bagatti’s workplace injuries.
Court Says Employee Can Sue
Now a California appeals court has given Bagatti the green light to sue. The court focused on a previous California Supreme Court ruling that an employee’s disability bias lawsuit based on her work-related injuries was not barred by the workers’ comp laws. The court then pointed out that under the FEHA, not making a reasonable accommodation is just as serious as disability discrimination. And, therefore, just as workers’ comp isn’t the sole remedy for disability discrimination, it isn’t the only remedy for an employee harmed by a failure to accommodate.
Strategies You Can Use
Here are some steps you can take to avoid disputes:
- Look for a reasonable accommodation. When an employee requests an accommodation or it’s apparent to you that one is needed, be sure to respond promptly. If it’s a close call whether the person is actually disabled and protected by the law, the safest approach is to give the employee the benefit of the doubt and look for a solution. But you’re within your rights to refuse to hire or terminate someone if no reasonable accommodation will allow them to perform their essential job functions and no other position is available that the person qualifies for.
- Educate managers. Be certain managers and supervisors understand their reasonable accommodation responsibilities for disabled workers.
- Correct safety problems. Evaluate whether there are hazards in areas disabled employees frequent that could lead to injuries.