A woman is suing JPMorgan Chase & Co., alleging she was given an inflexible return date from medical leave after breast cancer surgery that caused her to be fired in January because management would not give her nine more days off.
Connie Mireles’ Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit allegations include disability discrimination, retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Mireles seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in the suit brought Friday.
A Chase representative said the bank had no comment on Mireles’ case.
According to her suit, Mireles was hired as a bank teller in January 2006 and over time received positive job reviews, resulting in her being promoted years later to financial adviser. However, in October 2022 she took medical leave because of migraine headaches and less than a year later was diagnosed with breast cancer, the suit states. Upon being questioned by management about a return date, Mireles said she had cancer surgery scheduled in December 2024 and would return the next month, according to the suit.
Management told Mireles that if she did not come back by Jan. 27 of this year she would be fired, the suit alleges.
In an updated message, Mireles told her bosses that she needed accommodations to return instead on Feb. 5, but when she asked management if that was OK they responded by terminating her, the suit states.
Mireles has suffered a substantial loss in earnings as well as emotional distress, embarrassment and humiliation since losing her job, the suit states.