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Department of Fair Employment & Housing v. Lucent Technologies, Inc.

9th CircuitApril 26, 2011No. 09-15057, 09-15060Cited 158 times
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Case Details

Judge(s)
Thomas, Ikuta, Restani
Status — whether other courts must follow this ruling
Published
Procedural Posture — the stage the case had reached
appeal

Related Laws

No specific laws identified for this ruling.

Claim Types

Failure to Accommodate

Outcome

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Lucent Technologies, holding that the employer did not violate the California Fair Employment and Housing Act by terminating the employee after his disability period expired, as Lucent reasonably accommodated his restrictions and demonstrated legitimate, non-pretextual reasons for termination.

What This Ruling Means

**What Happened** A Lucent Technologies employee was terminated after his disability leave period ended. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued the company, claiming Lucent failed to properly accommodate the worker's disability and illegally fired him because of his condition. **What the Court Decided** The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Lucent Technologies. The court found that the company had reasonably accommodated the employee's disability-related restrictions while he was working. When Lucent eventually terminated him, the court determined the company had legitimate business reasons for the firing that were unrelated to his disability. The termination happened after his approved disability leave period had expired. **Why This Matters for Workers** This ruling shows that employers must provide reasonable accommodations for disabled workers, but they're not required to hold jobs indefinitely during extended leaves. Workers should understand that disability leave has limits, and companies can terminate employees for legitimate business reasons even after accommodating their disabilities. If facing similar situations, workers should document their accommodation requests and ensure they understand their leave policies and time limits.

This summary was generated to explain the ruling in plain English and is not legal advice.

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The Rio Blanco County Department of Human Services (Department) became involved with the parents in this case as a result of concerns about the children's welfare due to the condition of the family home, the parents' use of methamphetamine, and criminal cases involving the parents. Attempts at voluntary services failed, and on the Department's petition for dependency and neglect, the district court ultimately terminated the parents' rights. On appeal, the parents contended that the Department failed to make reasonable efforts to reunify them with their children. Specifically, the parents contended that the Department did not give them sufficient time to complete the services under their treatment plans and failed to accommodate their drug testing needs. The termination hearing was not held until more than a year after the motion to terminate was filed. For nine months before the motion to terminate was filed, the Department provided numerous services to the parents, including substance abuse therapy, therapeutic visitation supervision, drug abuse monitoring, and a parental capacity evaluation. The Department also provided counseling for the children. Both parents missed drug tests and tested positive during the testing period, and both were arrested for possession of methamphetamine during the pendency of the case. The Department made reasonable accommodations to meet the parents' needs and the parents had sufficient time to comply with their treatment plans. The record supports the trial court's findings that termination was appropriate because (1) the court-approved appropriate treatment plan had not been complied with by the parents or had not been successful in rehabilitating them (2) the parents were unfit and (3) the conduct or condition of the parents was unlikely to change within a reasonable time. Father also contended that the trial court's decision to interview the 9-year-old twin children together in chambers fundamentally and seriously affected the basi

Defendant Win

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