Source: https://mizrahilaw.com/top-10-medical-leave-rights-violations-1/
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 21:48:16+00:00

Document:
The law is clear, however, that leave can be a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. section 12101, and the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”), Government Code section 12940 et seq. (See, e.g., Hanson v. Lucky Stores, Inc. (1999) 74 Cal.App.4th 215, 226 [holding that “a finite leave can be a reasonable accommodation under FEHA, provided it is likely that at the end of the leave, the employee would be able to perform his or her duties”]; Nunes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (9th Cir. 1999) 164 F.3d 1243 [“Even an extended medical leave, or an extension of an existing leave period, may be a reasonable accommodation if it does not pose an undue hardship on the employer.”]; EEOC, Employer-Provided Leave and the Americans with Disabilities Act (May 9, 2016); 29 C.F.R. Pt. 1630 App. § 1630.2(o) [identifying as possible reasonable accommodations “permitting the use of accrued paid leave or providing additional unpaid leave for necessary treatment”].) Note that the FEHA looks to the ADA to provide a “floor of protection,” with the FEHA providing equal or greater protections to employees. (Cal. Gov’t Code § 12926.1.) For that reason, federal authorities are helpful in exploring the minimum protections afforded to employees.
The employee has already exhausted twelve weeks of FMLA/CFRA leave.
The only basis to deny leave requested as a reasonable accommodation is because it would be an undue hardship for the employer. (42 U.S.C. § 12112(b)(5)(A).) As the FMLA regulations confirm, “the ADA allows an indeterminate amount of leave, barring undue hardship, as a reasonable accommodation.” (29 C.F.R. § 825.702(b).) Thus, a qualified individual with a disability must be allowed additional leave time beyond the twelve weeks guaranteed under the FMLA/CFRA (and, in the case of pregnancy, the four months under California’s Pregnancy Disability Leave Law (“PDLL”), Cal. Gov’t Code section 12945) so long as that additional leave time would not constitute an undue hardship on the employer.
To read about the next way that employers deny employees their leave rights, click here: #2 -Failing to Consider All Leave Rights Together.
For more on leave as a reasonable accommodation, click here.
For more on the undue hardship standard, click here.

References: v. 
 v. 
 § 1630
 § 12926
 § 12112
 § 825