Montes

INTRODUCTION

Javier Montes, a maintenance mechanic at SPS Technologies LLC dba PB Fasteners (PB Fasteners), went on medical leave after he was injured at work. When Montes asked to return to work with physical restrictions 14 months later, PB Fasteners terminated his employment, stating that Montes’s physical restrictions prevented him from performing the maintenance mechanic job and that PB Fasteners did not have another vacant position Montes could perform. Montes filed this action against PB Fasteners and one of Montes’s supervisors, Hector Pelayo, for disability discrimination and harassment under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (Gov. Code, § 12900 et seq. (FEHA)) and related causes of action.1 The trial court granted a motion by PB Fasteners and Pelayo for summary judgment. We reverse.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Pelayo Harasses Montes After Montes Returns from Medical Leave In 1993 Montes began working for PB Fasteners, a manufacturer of aerospace structural nuts and bolts, or fasteners. In 2002 he became a maintenance mechanic. Montes repaired equipment, including grinding machines, hydraulic pumps, ovens, 100-ton presses, and computerized numerical control…