#1 Reason Employees Get Fired (unlawfully)

This video is about the most common reason employees get fired in violation of the law. It is when a worker gets fired for having a disability, but the employer was legally required to accommodate them. This is a "failure to accommodate" case under the American's with Disabilities Act (ADA) and is, unfortunately, extremely common.

Branigan Robertson is an employment lawyer in California. His firm exclusively represents employees in lawsuits against employers.

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00:00 - Introduction
00:38 - Failure to Accommodate Disabled Workers
01:43 - Big Picture on Reasonable Accommodations
03:25 - Legal Protections
04:32 - How Far Must an Employer Go?
05:45 - Preview of Video Series
06:48 - Contact Information
07:22 - Conclusion

#accommodation #disability #lawyer

What is the number one reason why hardworking Americans get fired unlawfully? Corporate managers in HR routinely fire people in violation of this law without even knowing it, and the consequences for workers are horrific. You and your loved ones should know about this law so that you can detect the warning signs and save yourself from getting fired. My name is Branigan Robertson, and I'm an employment lawyer.

In the last 10 years, my office received more than 15,000 inquiries from California workers. Based on that data set and from talking to other employment lawyers throughout the state who do the same area of law as me, I know that the most common reason why employees get fired unlawfully is that the employer is not willing to reasonably accommodate the worker when he or she becomes disabled. Now, if you're young or relatively healthy, you might be thinking, "I'm not disabled. This doesn't apply to me." Think again. I've talked to hundreds of totally healthy workers who quickly got fired because they had a small health issue unexpectedly pop up, and the employer didn't want to deal with it and fired them. At some point in your career, this area of law will be very important to you or to a loved one, so keep watching.

This is the first video in a five part video series. This first video is all about the big picture concerning, you guessed it, reasonable accommodations. So let me give you a very high level view of what we're talking about. At some point during your working career, you are going to have some sort of physical health issue or mental health issue that conflicts with your ability to do your job duties. You might get a concussion, break a leg, have a mental breakdown, get diagnosed with cancer, have a stroke, or have some other serious medical issue. It could be a short-term temporary issue, or it could be a long-term permanent issue. It could happen to you at work or it could happen to you outside of work. The details at this point don't matter. What matters is that you become disabled and the disability will interfere with your ability to do your job, and that's a big problem for your employer. They need to get things done, but they're not getting done because you're in the hospital or you're getting treatment or you're recovering or whatever.

Now that you have the basic overview, let me tell you where this video series is going to go. The next video goes deeper into what the law protects and what it doesn't. I'll explain the legal parameters of disability and reasonable accommodation. The third video in this series, I'll share all the shady ways that companies and HR refuse to accommodate disabled workers in violation of the law. In the fourth video, I'll share the best practices, how you can request a reasonable accommodation and maximize the chances that you'll get it. Moreover, in that video, I'm also going to explain how to lay a legal foundation so that if they do fire you, you'll have the evidence necessary to hold the company accountable in court. And the last video is all about money. I'll explain how much money that you can win in a lawsuit with a lawyer like me if your employer breaks the laws and you get fired.

Anything that I'm talking about in this video series should not be construed as legal advice. This is YouTube. If you need legal advice for a specific situation, you should pick up the phone and call a lawyer in your state. I'm a California lawyer and the free consultation process at my office is for California workers who got fired and they believe that they have a case for wrongful termination, retaliation harassment, or discrimination. If that applies to you and you think I've earned your phone call, please feel free to call us for a free consultation.

If you found the information in this video to be valuable, please hit the subscribe button and share this video with a friend of yours.

[braniganrobertsonlaw]

Have you ever had to take time off of work for some kind of disability? If so, tell me about your experience.

[christopherallen]

Number one is the boss doesn't like the employee

[chessman]

I was terminated for covid and tried workers compensation to get my job back but it was obvious decisions had been made behind my back. I could do nothing to protect myself. I am close to mid 50's and my body is beginning to break down. I don't know what to do.

[annielin]

Just letting people know I called EEOC in New York you can file
Multiple EEOC in your life time and you are allowed. Being an immigrant is not easy now at work it is very toxic!

[raven]

I injured my back, but I could have done my job fine if they had let me sit down to do it. They fired me, then they lied to unemployment and said I had to quit.

[bettertruecrime]

Signed an nda and don't want to sue them I want to sue whoever really made my life hell afterward

[PeterSigurdson]

Prior to watching this video, I will say that they are paying you more than they could pay someone else. The fact that you have a history delivering that job and of working the details is not seen at the HR level.

[Theheavymetalshop]

I got fired one time for coming to work with no love in my heart. How do you fix this ? I had been working there for 25 years.

[paulatobler]

Disability Rights California will help people who are trying to get accommodations before they are fired.

[IgoZoom]

I fell down my front stairs and shattered my wrist last year. I was out of work for 8wks and 2wks after I returned I was fired for alleged performance reasons. I sued and the case is pending.

[carleycook]

Ironically, healthcare is horrible with this. I've been fired so many times for things like being unable to multitask because of my ADHD, brain fog from fibromyalgia and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

[dceufan]

.. I have to stop reading some of these comments, they are truly depressing.

GOOD LUCK & FORTUNE TO ALL WHO POSTED & WILL BE POSTING. 🤞

[jmswillow]

You don't go along with certain ideologies and political views. Aren't a covid denier. Tjose are the top. They make sure you somehow do not share company values.

[J-Anon-]

Your employer was never your friend or family. We need to have realistic expectations of what an employer will do, understanding it's a negotiation and both sides need to get something. Getting the government & lawyers involved in a dispute with your employer is rarely going to be fun or profitable if one side just doesn't want to play anymore. If your value to your employer is high enough, they'll be willing to be "reasonable".

[faulltw]

I have been with the same company for 17 years and i have taken 6 weeks off twice for surgery; however, if I was not going to be able to perform the duties that were part of the job I was hired for indefinitely, I would resign. I wouldn't expect the company to keep me employed when I could no longer do the job.

[weirdnomad]

So this is like the personal injury lawyer for employment situations. LOL! People like you are why employers are so reluctant to hire people or take a chance on someone

[kerrybroome]

I suffered a stroke and LTD provider stopped paying me because they thought I could work. I sued them successfully. After time had passed my doctors suggested I try working a few hours a week. My employer wasn’t willing to accommodate. I filed a human rights complaint and won. World is cruel. Obviously I wanted to work.

[Jessica-tpgj]

I’m an RN. I was assaulted by a patient on the job and lost strength and sensation to my dominant hand. I wasn’t “fired” per se. I was told that workers comp would no longer pay and I was determined to be “faking”. The hospital put the onus on me to either get back to my job at the skill level I was hired for, or I could leave voluntarily. Apparently in the state of Oregon employers cannot be sued. I ended up losing everything and became temporarily homeless as a result. I found out much later that this patient was placed in the ICU because there were no mental health beds available and worse yet, that she had been banned from the state mental institution where she previously lived because she had permanently injured too many of their staff.

[MrMyers-oiop]

16 years ago, my girlfriend at the time and now wife, employed by a major U.S. appliance manufacturer at a refrigerator manufacturing facility for four years prior to us expecting our first child, was 8.5 months pregnant and 3 days away from starting her maternity leave when her employment status went from active to "temporary layoff". Being a right to work state, she, according to company management, received that status due to missing the cut-off on the seniority tree by 2 positions. This also interrupted her health benifits. After our son was delivered via emergency c-section due to a dangerously low heartrate during contractions about 10 hours into labor, not only did she not have a paycheck, we had the medical bills for that major emergency proceedure, and a son to raise which last time I checked, also requires money. Thanks Whirlpool!

[primafacie]

Mental health issue caused by employer