Swanson

Plaintiff and appellant Lauralyn Swanson sued defendant and respondent Morongo Unified School District (District) under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (Gov. Code, § 12900 et seq.; FEHA) after the District chose not to renew her probationary teaching contract for the 2009-2010 school year. Swanson’s complaint alleges the District violated the FEHA by (1) discriminating against her because she was diagnosed with breast cancer and took medical leave to receive treatment; (2) failing to reasonably accommodate Swanson’s cancer-related health conditions by refusing to assign her to teach an available second grade class she believed provided the best opportunity for her to successfully teach while recovering from her cancer treatments; and (3) failing to engage in a good faith, interactive process to identify a reasonable accommodation for her cancer-related health conditions.

The District sought summary judgment on Swanson’s discrimination claim, asserting it elected not to renew her probationary teaching contract for the legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason that she failed to satisfy the District’s teaching standards. The District sought summary judgment on…