Q: Was I wrongfully terminated?
I scheduled PTO for one week of vacation. My employer asked that I complete a COVID test upon my return to be allowed to return to work or quarantine. The day before leaving for my trip, my employer changed his mind, and told me that regardless of a test or symptoms (or negative results) I would be forced to quarantine for 2 weeks afterwards. I returned from my trip and began to quarantine. I still went to take my test, monday following my return. I had no symptoms. Tuesday night I took off by myself and my dog on a road trip driving up the coast. Not interacting with anyone. I received my negative results Wednesday night, and then the next day, Thursday night visited some relatives. I returned home the following Monday night. Still no symptoms. I then get a text message Wednesday from my employer telling me that he will be terminating employment on the basis of breaking self-quarantine. No further reasons.
A:
I am sorry you lost your job. Far more would need to be known about this situation. In California you are considered to be employed at will unless you have an agreement to the contrary about that status with the employer. As an at will employee you can be terminated at any time and for any reason or even no reason at all. You only have a meritorious legal claim if you can establish that you were terminated for an illegal reason. That usually means being terminated because you are in a protected class of people or because you engaged in some form of legally protected conduct.
The most likely approach here is that you were terminated because the employer viewed you as somehow disabled. However, I think you will have a challenge here in that approach. It sounds like you acted in a way that the employer believed you represented too much of a risk to other employees by your conduct. Quarantine does not mean vacation. It means staying at home and away from others so that at the end of that period of time it can be more assured that you are virus free. Your decision to use the quarantine period to take a road trip and visit relatives demonstrated a cavalier attitude toward the virus and the health of other employees, and that appears to be the reason for the termination.
It is a difficult case to make, and there may be attorneys out there willing to push that case, so locate and consult with employment law attorneys to see if one is more optimistic than I am.
Good luck to you.
A:
I agree with Mr. Pedersen. In addition, if your employer employs enough employees to be covered, you may be entitled to protection under California's ADA (the FEHA in the Government Code) because your employer treated you as if you were a person with a serious health condition constituting a disability. Under the FEHA, he is also obligated to have an "Interactive Process" with you before terminating you, in order to see if some other accommodation, such as extending your quarantine period, could accommodate you and his concerns about you potentially infecting the working staff. Firing you without providing you the protections required by law could be the "illegal" reason that Mr. Pederson mentions. The DFEH has a website with more information about this that you can review. Do not delay in contacting an attorney, and keep all correspondence as evidence.
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