Police Officer Who Had Heart Attack Could Not Perform Essential Functions Of Administrative Job

Lui v. City and County of San Francisco, 211 Cal. App. 4th 962 (2012)

After suffering a major heart attack, Kenneth Lui retired from his position as a police officer with the San Francisco Police Department. After the Department informed him there were no administrative positions available that did not require him to perform the strenuous duties regularly performed by patrol officers in the field, he sued for disability discrimination under the Fair Employment and Housing Act. The trial court entered judgment in favor of the Department, and the Court of Appeal affirmed, holding that even though officers in administrative positions are not frequently required to engage in strenuous physical activity, the ability to perform such duties is essential because the Department has a legitimate need to be able to deploy officers in those positions in the event of emergencies and other mass mobilizations. See also Furtado v. State Personnel Bd., 2013 WL 64657 (Cal. Ct. App. 2013) (peace officer was properly demoted because he was unable to perform the essential functions of his job with or without accommodation); Basurto v. Imperial Irrigation Dist., 211 Cal. App. 4th 866 (2012) (public... employee's civil claims for age and race discrimination were barred under principles of estoppel and res judicata by a prior adverse administrative decision of the district's governing board); Edgerly v. City of Oakland, 2012 WL 6194390 (Cal. Ct. App. 2012) (former city administrator who was allegedly terminated for refusing to violate the city's charter, municipal code and civil service rules and resolutions could not state claim for violation of the statewide whistleblower statute, Labor Code § 1102.5).

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