Total Articles: 5
Non-impaired employee may be able to bring a claim under the ADA's "associational disability" provision.
In an issue of first impression for the court, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the dismissal of an individual’s claim under the “associational discrimination” provision of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Stansberry v. Air Wisconsin Airlines Corp., 6th Cir., No. 09-2499, July 6, 2011. In that case, an employee claimed that he was fired from his position shortly after his wife’s medical condition - of which the company had been aware for years - worsened, leading him to believe that her condition was the basis of his termination.
For Better or for Worse, in Sickness and in Health (pdf).
In an effort to control health
care costs, many employers
are more closely monitoring
(and in some cases, managing)
claims made by employees and
their family members. Doing so
is not without risk, as one
employer, Proctor Hospital,
discovered when clinical
manager Phyllis Dewitt fi led a
lawsuit against it under the
ADA. Dewitt alleged that the
hospital violated the ADA in its
attempt to control costs relating
to treatment her husband was
receiving for prostate cancer.
Second Circuit Permits Title VII Claim Based on Association to Proceed.
The Second Circuit recently reversed a trial courts decision granting summary judgment in favor of an employer, holding that an employer may violate Title VII if it takes action against an employee because of the employees association with a person of another race. See Holcomb v. Iona College (April 1, 2007). In this case, Holcomb, who is white, claimed the college discharged him from his job as an assistant basketball coach because he was married to a black woman. The college claimed he was discharged as part of an overhaul of its staff in an effort to improve a poorly performing basketball team.
Employee may sue for "association bias" (pdf).
Court Finds Reasons For Discharge May Be Pretextual.
Disability "Association" Discrimination Under the ADA (pdf).
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently addressed for the first time a claim situated employee who did not apply for atypically large benefits, was subjected to an adverse employment action (termination).
