Sasaki-Hayward v. the Regents of the University of California

In February 2010, Partner Linda Miller Savitt and Senior Counsel Christine Hoeffner obtained affirmance by the Court of Appeal of an order granting a summary judgment motion which was drafted by Partner Jonathan Rosenberg. Sasaki-Hayward v. The Regents of the University of California (Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. BC 359240) was complex disability discrimination case arising under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act. The trial court held, and the Court of Appeal affirmed, that (1) keeping an employee on a medical leave is a reasonable accommodation when the employee was released to return to work with restrictions, (2) the interactive process requires an employee to keep the employer advised of improvements in her medical condition, and (3) the employee could not establish disability discrimination based on discipline for work absences when she did not advise the employer in advance that absences were caused by a disability.