Tracy L. Fehr

Fehr said it was especially rewarding obtaining an appellate victory for a client whose employer mistakenly fired him, thinking he had transferred to long term disability after ignoring his months-long attempts to clarify the situation.

“It’s one of those cases where writing the statement of facts and the writ I filed, just made me so angry for this man who just got the runaround from his employer for months and months, despite his best efforts,” Fehr said. “And then to have the judge get it wrong on summary judgment, it was a ‘can’t a guy catch a break,’ kind of situations, so it felt really good that the Court of Appeal agreed and so strongly to issue a public decision,” Fehr said.

After Fehr’s client suffered a serious eye condition, he was unable to drive to doctor’s offices to fulfill his primary duties as a sales associate for Allergen pharmaceuticals. After pleading with Allegan for months to be reassigned to a job he could perform, as it is required by law, Fehr’s client was fired because a temporary corporate benefits staffer mistakenly thought he had transitioned from short term disability to long term disability. Glynn v. Superior Court (Allergan, Inc.), 42 Cal.App.5th 57 (2019).

The 2nd appellate District Division 4 found that even a legitimate company policy, if mistakenly applied, may engender The Fair Employment and Housing Act disability discrimination liability.

“It’s a really helpful case for plaintiffs-side employment lawyers,” Fehr said.

“I think it will help others too, it made clear that the employer can’t make a mistake in firing a disabled person if it’s still based on a disability because that is direct evidence of disability discrimination.”

Fehr focuses on discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination cases against both private and public sector employers. Tracy also handles appeals and writs for Alexander Krakow + Glick LLP and has secured numerous appellate victories.

Along with women’s rights work, Fehr said she enjoys working with legal aid and non-profits organization on transgender discrimination issues which are the “cutting edge of the law right now,” she said.

“It’s a cliche, but I became a lawyer to help people and especially with those cases, I really feel like I’m making a difference,” Fehr said. “That’s important to me.”

— Blaise Scemama