Higgins-Williams

In this action for disability discrimination and wrongful termination, we affirm a summary judgment in favor of the defendant employer. We do so largely because the plaintiff employee’s alleged disability — an inability to work under a particular supervisor because of anxiety and stress related to the supervisor’s standard oversight of job performance — is not a disability recognized in the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA; Gov. Code, § 12900 et seq.).

PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Summary Judgment Standard of Review

“The aim of the summary judgment procedure is to determine, through the use of declarations and evidence disclosed in discovery, whether the parties possess conflicting evidence on a material issue that requires a trial to sort out — in short, whether a triable issue of material fact exists.” (Yanez v. Plummer (2013) 221 Cal.App.4th 180, 185-186 [ 164 Cal.Rptr.3d 309 ] (Yanez).)

In reviewing a summary judgment, we first identify the issues framed by the pleadings since it is these allegations to which the motion must be directed. (Rio Linda Unified School Dist. v. Superior Court (1997) 52 Cal.App.4th 732, 734-735 [ 60 Cal.Rptr.2d 710…