Worker says Daiichi Sankyo demoted, fired her after mental health leave

That changed in February 2024, the complaint says, when she had a mental health crisis and her doctor told her to take leave straight away. She told her supervisor the leave was “personal” and “necessary.” According to the filing, the supervisor reacted with open hostility on the video call and, the same day, asked IT for access to the worker’s email, citing an “unknown return date.”

She took FMLA leave in early February and returned on April 15, 2024, two weeks early – she says out of fear for her job. Instead of her old role, the complaint alleges, she was locked out of the company’s systems and told she had been “permanently replaced” and was “no longer needed.” When she pushed back that demoting someone for taking leave was unlawful, the filing says, the supervisor replied that she was “not comfortable” discussing it and “not going to talk about it anymore,” then hung up.

From there, she says, she was handed junior-level work with no title. Days after she complained to HR, the complaint alleges, a retroactive year-end review rated her a “Partial Achievement” and cut her bonus to 9% against an 18% target – a review two managers allegedly said they “don’t necessarily agree with” but could not defend, because they were not on the calibration committee.

She disclosed her disability to HR in writing in August 2024 and filed a formal request for accommodations that October, asking for more time to take on new work, longer training and deadlines, and help on urgent tasks, the filing says. She alleges the company never opened a real back-and-forth about those requests and left them marked “under review.”

Then came a performance improvement plan, or PIP – a formal warning that sets deadlines to fix performance or face dismissal. Issued on November 14, 2024, it demanded major improvement within 30 days while stating on its face that her accommodation request was “still under review,” according to the complaint. The next day, she alleges, she was cut from the distribution list for the very project the plan told her to deliver.