A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleges that Elevance Health and Blue Cross of California discriminated against longtime employee Priscilla Kamoi, a registered nurse who worked for the company for 17 years. The complaint claims the company failed to provide reasonable accommodations for Kamoi's severe trigeminal neuralgia, retaliated against her for requesting accommodations, and ultimately terminated her employment in May 2025. Filed by Helmer Friedman LLP and The Carr Law Group, the lawsuit also alleges discrimination based on race and national origin and seeks to hold the company accountable for violations of California employment law.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., March 17, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Health Insurance Giant Anthem/Elevance Fires Veteran Nurse of 17 Years Who Suffers from Debilitating Nerve Disease — After Repeatedly Refusing Her Accommodation Requests and Punishing Her for Making Them
Priscilla Kamoi, a licensed Registered Nurse and 17-year veteran employee of Anthem Blue Cross and Elevance Health, has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging that the healthcare giant discriminated against her based on her disability and medical condition, refused to provide reasonable accommodations, retaliated against her for requesting those accommodations, and ultimately fired her. Named as defendants are Elevance Health, Inc., Blue Cross of California, and other related entities, and several individual supervisors. (Los Angeles County Superior Court Case No. 26STCV08319). The filing was announced today by the Los Angeles law firms of Helmer Friedman LLP and The Carr Law Group.
According to the Complaint, Ms. Kamoi began her employment with Defendants (then known as "Wellpoint") in August 2008 as a case management nurse in Woodland Hills, California. Over the course of seventeen years, the Complaint alleges, Ms. Kamoi's performance was exemplary — she earned regular salary increases, annual bonuses, and consistently strong performance evaluations.
Ms. Kamoi further alleges, in her Complaint, that beginning in late 2018 she developed a debilitating condition — severe trigeminal neuralgia — causing excruciating, electric-shock-like pain radiating into her head and face, difficulty speaking, chewing, swallowing, and sleeping. In a January 2023 email to her supervisors, she attached photographs of herself during a pain episode and described the ordeal: attacks so severe she could not eat dinner until after 11:00 p.m. when the pain finally subsided.
The Complaint describes a relentless cycle spanning nearly three years: Defendants imposed stringent new hourly productivity quotas on Ms. Kamoi, then disciplined her when her disability prevented her from meeting those quotas, then refused her repeated requests for reasonable accommodations, then disciplined her again. According to the Complaint, when Ms. Kamoi raised her limitations with a supervisor, she was told, "Then get another job." When her physician submitted a formal accommodation request in May 2024 — asking only that Ms. Kamoi be given necessary breaks and additional time to complete assignments during pain episodes — Defendants denied it within two weeks.
Ms. Kamoi further alleges a pattern of escalating retaliation: productivity standards were increased again in January 2025, her performance was monitored on a stringent weekly basis while other nurses were reviewed monthly, and on May 22, 2025, she was summoned to a meeting and fired. The Complaint also alleges that Ms. Kamoi, a Kenyan-born Black woman, was discriminated against based on her race and national origin.
Commenting on California law, Gregory Helmer of Helmer Friedman LLP said, "The law is unambiguous: an employer cannot punish a disabled employee for being disabled, and it cannot refuse to provide a simple accommodation — like a little extra time — and then use the employee's resulting 'performance deficiency' as a pretext to fire her. That is precisely what the law against disability discrimination was designed to prevent." James Carr added, "There is a cruel irony in a major health insurance company — one that profits from the healthcare system — showing so little regard for the health and dignity of a nurse who spent 17 years caring for its members."
Media Contact
Gregory Helmer, Helmer Friedman LLP, 1 3103967714 102, [email protected], www.helmerfriedman.com
James Carr, The Carr Law Group, 1 3109198057, [email protected]
SOURCE Helmer Friedman LLP
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