In a case of first impression, the Second District Court of Appeal held that employees who have exhausted all leave available under the Pregnancy Disability Leave Law (Cal. Gov’t Code §12945) and the California Family Rights Act (Cal. Gov’t Code §12945.1, et seq.) are nevertheless entitled to additional leave under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act’s "reasonable accommodation" requirement. Sanchez v. Swissport, 13 C.D.O.S. 2033.
The court’s prior decisions in Hanson v. Lucky Stores and Jensen v. Wells Fargo Bank clarified the scope of an employer’s obligation to provide a reasonable accommodation to employees with known mental or physical disabilities. Those cases, however, did not address FEHA’s application to women with pregnancy-related disabilities who benefit from protections under the PDLL and CFRA. Sanchez eliminates this uncertainty. It makes clear the leave available to women under the PDLL and CFRA neither counts as a reasonable accommodation under FEHA nor exempts an employer from FEHA’s terms. Accordingly, the accommodations prescribed under these statutes supplement, rather than replace, those under FEHA.
