Facts

Plaintiff was employed by the County of Los Angeles. In March 2002, she went off work on an extended medical leave. She was ultimately unable to work due to her medical condition from March 2002 until January 2006. As part of the county's generous employment benefits, the County provided plaintiff with 24 months of long-term disability benefits.

According to the terms of the LTD plan, any employee who wants to continue receiving LTD benefits for more than 24 months must apply for retirement from the County. After she exhausted the 24 months of LTD benefits, plaintiff applied for retirement from the County in order to continue receiving the LTD benefits. Plaintiff then filed suit alleging that the County's LTD plan discriminated against people with disabilities.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff alleged that the County forced her to retire by refusing to provide her with LTD benefits beyond the 24 months provided for by the County's LTD plan. She claimed that the provisions of the County's LTD plan had a disparate impact on employees with disabilities. Plaintiff also claimed that the County failed to accommodate her disability by providing her with additional LTD benefits and by failing to reinstate her after her medical disability ended.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The County contended, and Judge Miller agreed, that plaintiff could not state a claim for disparate treatment because, at the time of her retirement, plaintiff was not a "qualified individual" under the FEHA because she was unable to work in any capacity. The County contended that its LTD plan was a generous employment benefit that was provided free of charge to its employees and that the LTD plan did not have a disparate impact on employees with disabilities because the provisions of the LTD plan applied to all employees equally.

Finally, the County contended that it provided plaintiff with a reasonable accommodation -- medical leave -- for three years and also kept her job open for her during her three year medical leave until plaintiff retired. Once plaintiff retired, the County no longer had a duty to accommodate a former employee.

Settlement Discussions

Parties attended a court-ordered mediation with a panel mediator, Rose Nazarian, in December 2006.

Result

Judge Rita Miller granted defendant County of Los Angeles' motion for summary judgment on Jan. 25, 2007, as to all causes of action in the complaint, including disability discrimination (disparate treatment), disability discrimination (disparate impact), and alleged failure to reasonably accommodate.

Other Information

Plaintiff plans to file an appeal.