Can You Be Fired for Having a Seizure at Work?

In most cases, no—you cannot be fired for having a seizure at work. The Americans with Disabilities Act protects employees with seizure disorders at companies with 15 or more workers, and that protection reaches even someone an employer only assumes has epilepsy after witnessing a single episode.¹ An employer who wants to justify a termination has to prove you pose a real safety risk that no reasonable accommodation can fix. That is a high bar, and employers who rely on fear rather than medical evidence lose these cases routinely.

When the ADA Protects You

The ADA bars employers from firing, demoting, or otherwise penalizing a worker because of a disability. Epilepsy is explicitly recognized as a disability under the law, and the protection applies across the range of seizure disorders.² It covers private employers with 15 or more employees and state and local governments.¹

You do not need a confirmed diagnosis for the law to apply. The ADA also covers anyone an employer treats as having a disability. So if a supervisor watches you have a seizure and fires you because they now assume you have epilepsy, that termination is illegal even if you have never been formally diagnosed. The EEOC calls this the “regarded as” prong, and it catches employers who act on stereotypes rather than facts.²

One boundary to know. If your employer has fewer than 15 employees, the federal ADA does not apply to your job. Most states have their own disability discrimination laws, and many cover smaller employers, so check with your state civil rights or human rights agency before assuming you have no claim.

When an Employer Can Point to Safety

The analysis gets harder if your job involves operating heavy equipment, working at heights, or other tasks where a sudden loss of consciousness could hurt you or someone else. Employers have a legitimate interest in safety, but the ADA does not disappear because the work is dangerous.

The controlling concept is “direct threat.” Under the ADA, a direct threat is a significant risk to health or safety that cannot be eliminated through reasonable accommodation.³ The employer bears the burden of proving that threat, and the determination must rest on current medical evidence, not speculation about what could happen. General fear of seizures is not enough.

The employer also has to conduct an individualized assessment of you specifically. That means looking at your actual seizure history, how well your condition is controlled by medication, whether you get warning signs before an episode, and the precise duties of your job. A blanket policy of “no employees with seizure disorders in this role” violates the ADA because it skips the individual analysis.²

Even when a genuine safety concern exists, termination is not the first step. The employer must consider accommodations, including reassignment to an available position with less hazard exposure. Only after exhausting reasonable alternatives can an employer rely on the direct threat defense.

Commercial Driving Is a Real Exception

Federal regulations disqualify anyone with an established history of epilepsy or any condition likely to cause loss of consciousness from operating a commercial motor vehicle in interstate commerce.⁴ The waiting periods to regain eligibility are long: a driver with a history of epilepsy must be seizure-free and off medication for 10 years, and someone with a single unprovoked seizure faces a five-year seizure-free, medication-free waiting period.⁵

If your job requires a commercial driver’s license and you cannot meet these medical standards, your employer is not required to keep you in the driving role. Even here, though, the employer still must consider reassignment to a non-driving position if one is available, rather than simply firing you.

How to Tell If the Firing Was Really About Your Seizure

Employers almost never say outright that they are firing someone because of a medical condition. Instead, they cite attendance problems, performance issues, or a restructuring. The real test is whether those reasons hold up against the timeline.

Ask yourself a few questions. Were you meeting expectations before you had a seizure? Did the “performance issues” appear only after you disclosed your condition or requested an accommodation? Were other employees with similar attendance records treated differently? If the answer to any of these points toward your seizure disorder being the actual trigger, you may have a viable claim.

Pull everything together while it is fresh: performance reviews from before and after your diagnosis, emails about accommodation requests, the termination letter, witness statements from coworkers, and your personal seizure log noting dates, times, and any workplace incidents. An employment attorney who handles disability discrimination can review this evidence and tell you whether it holds up. Many of these attorneys work on contingency, meaning they collect a percentage of any recovery rather than charging upfront.

Filing a Charge With the EEOC

Before you can sue in federal court, you have to file a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. You can file online, by mail, or in person at an EEOC office.⁶ The agency investigates and often attempts to resolve the matter through mediation between you and your employer.

Deadlines are strict and forfeiture is total. You generally have 180 days from the discriminatory act to file, extended to 300 days if your state has its own anti-discrimination agency covering the claim, which most states do.⁷ Do not assume you have the longer window without confirming it. The clock runs from the date you were fired, not from the date you figured out why.

After you file, the EEOC typically needs at least 180 days to investigate before you can request a “right to sue” letter. Once that letter arrives, you have just 90 days to file a lawsuit in federal court.⁸ That 90-day window closes hard.

What You Can Recover

If you win an ADA discrimination claim, remedies can include reinstatement, back pay for wages you lost, and compensatory damages for emotional distress. Where the employer’s conduct was especially willful or reckless, punitive damages may also be available. Federal law caps the combined compensatory and punitive damages by employer size:⁹

15 to 100 employees: $50,000
101 to 200 employees: $100,000
201 to 500 employees: $200,000
Over 500 employees: $300,000

Back pay and attorney’s fees fall outside those caps. Courts can also order the employer to change its policies and provide training. The EEOC offers free mediation as part of its investigation process for employees who would rather resolve the matter without a full trial.

Related Protections Worth Knowing

Retaliation for Asking for Help

The ADA also protects you from being punished for asserting your rights. Requesting an accommodation, filing a discrimination complaint, or pushing back when your employer ignores your medical needs are all protected activities.¹⁰ Retaliation is not limited to firing. It includes demotions, suspensions, negative performance reviews that do not match your actual work, and schedule changes designed to push you out.¹¹ Timing alone can support a retaliation claim: if you asked for a modified schedule to manage your medication and suddenly started receiving poor reviews despite unchanged work quality, that sequence matters.

FMLA Leave If You Are Still Employed

If you have not been fired yet and need time to recover or adjust medication, the Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for a serious health condition. You qualify if you have worked for your employer at least 12 months, logged at least 1,250 hours during that period, and the company has 50 or more employees within 75 miles of your worksite.¹² A seizure disorder that involves continuing treatment by a healthcare provider qualifies as a serious health condition, including conditions that cause episodic incapacity.¹³ You can take the leave intermittently: a few hours to recover after a seizure, a day for a neurology appointment, or a couple of days for medication side effects.

Health Coverage and Income After a Firing

Losing your job when you have a seizure disorder creates an immediate practical problem: keeping access to your neurologist and medications. COBRA continuation coverage lets you keep your employer’s health insurance for up to 18 months after termination, but you pay the full premium plus a 2 percent administrative fee, up to 102 percent of the total plan cost.¹⁴ Marketplace plans through healthcare.gov may be cheaper, especially now that your income has dropped. If your seizure disorder is severe enough that you cannot work at all, Social Security Disability Insurance is an option, though applications often take several months to process.

1
ADA.gov. Introduction to the Americans with Disabilities Act
2
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Epilepsy in the Workplace and the ADA
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 12111 – Definitions
4
eCFR. 49 CFR 391.41 – Physical Qualifications for Drivers
5
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Attention Certified Medical Examiners: Seizure Information
6
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. How to File a Charge of Employment Discrimination
7
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Time Limits for Filing a Complaint
8
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Can Expect After You File a Charge
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1981a – Damages in Cases of Intentional Discrimination
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 12203 – Prohibition Against Retaliation and Coercion
11
U.S. Department of Labor. Retaliation for Protected EEO Activity Is Unlawful
12
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28: The Family and Medical Leave Act
13
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28P: Taking Leave from Work When You or Your Family Member Has a Serious Health Condition Under the FMLA
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 1162 – Continuation Coverage