He says he had a brain injury, a doctor's note, and a hybrid offer on the table
The Ultimate Fighting Championship's parent company is facing a federal lawsuit from a former paralegal who says it pulled the plug on his remote work setup after a brain injury — then fired him.
Justice Feldman, who worked as a corporate paralegal at Zuffa, LLC, filed suit on May 20, 2026, in the US District Court for the District of Nevada, accusing the company of disability discrimination, retaliation, and failure to accommodate under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Nevada law. The case is Feldman v. Zuffa, LLC, No. 2:26-cv-01542.
According to the filing, Feldman's story begins with bad timing. About two weeks after accepting Zuffa's job offer, on or about October 1, 2023, he was hurt in a motor vehicle accident. He says he told Zuffa about the resulting disabilities — traumatic brain injury and chronic pain syndrome — and asked for a few specific adjustments: work from home, time off for medical appointments, and breaks throughout the day. Zuffa, he says, signed off on all of it. He started work on or about October 9, 2023, remotely.
In November, Feldman says he formalized the arrangement through Zuffa's third-party benefits administrator, complete with documentation from his treating physician. By January 2024, the filing states, Zuffa's own outside vocational counselor agreed that his medical limitations required full-time remote work.
Then, the suit alleges, the tone shifted. On or about February 2, 2024, Zuffa told him it would no longer approve remote work and placed him on a mandatory leave of absence, with instructions to report to the Las Vegas office by April 1 — even though, he says, his treating physicians had warned that in-person office work was medically unsafe.
Feldman alleges he tried to find middle ground. In a written statement in March, he laid out his functional limitations, including balance and mobility issues, seizure risk, and neurological and sensory impairments. At a March 25 meeting with HR, he proposed a hybrid setup, coming into the office for tasks that genuinely required it. According to the complaint, the proposal was rejected on the spot, "without exploring any alternative accommodation."
He was terminated on or about April 9, 2024. The filing describes the stated reasons as "false and pretextual."
Feldman dual-filed a discrimination charge with the EEOC and the Nevada Equal Rights Commission in July 2024. The EEOC closed the matter without findings and issued a right-to-sue notice on May 5, 2026.
For HR leaders, the alleged sequence is a familiar one: an accommodation approved, then walked back; an outside vocational opinion supporting remote work; a documented hybrid proposal; and a termination weeks later. Feldman is seeking lost wages, emotional distress damages, punitive damages, and attorneys' fees.
The allegations have not been tested in court. Zuffa has not yet filed a response, and no court has ruled on the claims.
