In Michelle Roman v. Hertz Local Edition Corp., a United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of California granted summary judgment in favor of Hertz, and against former employee Michelle Roman, whose employment was terminated after she contracted COVID. Roman claimed that her job should have been protected by the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) while she suffered from mild symptoms of COVID. Hertz terminated Roman’s employment after she came to work sick, which violated company policy. The Court held that because Roman’s COVID symptoms were mild and temporary, they did not qualify as a “disability” under FEHA. Therefore, FEHA did not protect Roman’s job from termination.
