A Leading Law Firm for Employees in California’s Educational Industry
Stephen Danz and Associates is a law firm dedicated to representing employees in the educational industry. During quarantine, our society realized just how important California’s educational industry truly is since parents were faced with the responsibility for supervising and educating their children. Our law firm attorneys and support staff, as well as co-counsel, devote their practice to employment law. We are a powerful legal team on your side – whether you are a teacher or school administrator. We even the field when it comes to taking on the large employers, whether private or public schools and colleges, and their defense counsels. California’s education industry is diverse and complex. It is also one of the largest industries in the United States. Accordingly, employees who face discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wrongful termination or related employer-prohibited activity, should seek the help of competent and knowledgeable California employment lawyers. The attorney you trust should have the experience and fortitude to stand against the largest defense firms, and not be concerned about litigation.
Our leadership has practiced law in California for five decades. Accordingly, the experience, resources, and years of litigation prepared us to fight for your legal rights in California’s state and federal courts. The team focuses only on employment law and therefore can provide clients with maximum compensation and most favorable results. This is critical as employment laws constantly change – whether it is the types of charges, defenses, deadlines, or court rules. Trust our team for its transparency, knowledge and constant communication. Below, we list several recent common COVID-19 questions we got from clients. Each situation is unique. Therefore, we encourage you to call us to discuss your case.
I have a disability that requires a reasonable accommodation to perform my job. Now that I’m working from home, I no longer have access to my accommodation or need to make additional changes to how I perform my work. What is the employer required to legally do?
- Employers should still provide reasonable accommodations to employees who have disabilities unrelated to COVID-19.
- An employer’s obligation to provide reasonable accommodation is ongoing and the employer must engage in an interactive process to determine whether a reasonable accommodation exists that would not cause an undue hardship.
- An employer cannot reject an accommodation because it costs money to provide, but the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic may affect whether a particular accommodation poses an undue hardship now that it would not have posed before the pandemic.
- Counsel for an employee needing a new or different accommodation should engage with the employer and propose options that would enable the employee to perform the essential functions of the job without undue hardship. The employer may ask questions or request documentation about whether the same or a different disability is the basis for the new request and why an additional or altered accommodation is needed.
What should employees do if they have disabilities and need accommodation in the workplace?
Employees in California who have disabilities may have separate rights to unpaid leave under the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) or the California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”). Accordingly, when an applicant or employee requests reasonable accommodations, employers must initiate an “interactive process”. In addition, the employer must offer to initiate an interactive process when the employer becomes aware of the mere possibility of the need for an accommodation (such as perception). This awareness may be provided by a third party, by observation of the employee’s need, or because the employee has exhausted leave benefits but still needs reasonable accommodation. Call our office to discuss any related issues.