RECORD JURY VERDICT IN HANDICAP DISCRIMINATION CASE
(1998)

Both California and federal law require that employers take steps to reasonably accommodate employees with disabilities. In Late 1997, a jury in Sacramento County Superior Court awarded $1.4 million to an engineer suffering from multiple sclerosis, where the plaintiff's case was based on an allegation that the employer refused to provide reasonable accommodation for her handicap. The step required to reasonably accommodate an employee with disabilities will vary from case to case, but as this Sacramento jury verdict indicates, it is always important for employers to consider very carefully requests to accommodate and, in close cases, to err on the side of accommodation.