Total Articles: 9
Tenth Circuit Holds Employee's Migraines Not a Disability Under ADA
In a signal that the courts do not regard the 2008 amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as a basis to declare every ailment or condition to be a "disability" under federal law, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently held that a plaintiff who was diagnosed with migraine headaches was not "disabled" under the ADA. Allen v. Southcrest Hospital, No. 11-5016, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 25488 (10th Cir. Dec. 21, 2011). Employers should not get too excited, however, as the court did not declare that migraines can never be a disability. It did clarify, in a manner that likely will be helpful for employers faced with ADA litigation, what an employee must establish to claim the ADA's protections.
D.C. Circuit Clarifies ADA Causation Standard
On December 9, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed a lower court’s entry of judgment in favor of George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (GWU) on claims brought by Carolyn Singh, a former medical student, for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in Singh v. George Washington Univ. Sch. of Med. & Health Scis. This recent decision, the second D.C. Circuit decision in the Singh case, offers valuable guidance to higher education institutions with regard to accommodation of students with learning disabilities.
Seventh Circuit Holds that Pregnancy Complications Can Be a Disability Under the ADA
For the first time a federal court of appeals has addressed whether a pregnancy complication is a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and concluded that, while in some circumstances it might be, a plaintiff attempting to show that a pregnancy-related condition substantially limits a major life activity faces a “tough hurdle.”
Short-Term Pregnancy Complications Found Not to Be a Disability
In a case of first impression in a court of appeals, the Seventh Circuit recently ruled that pregnancy-related complications can rise to the level of a "disability" within the meaning of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). However, such complications, if they are of limited duration and dissipate once a woman gives birth, may not be "substantially limiting." Under those circumstances, no "disability" exists and no duty of reasonable accommodation is owed.
Under the ADAAA, individual with episodic disability does not have to be "substantially limited" at the time of complained-of adverse action.
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) clarified the ADA in a number of ways. In one significant clarification, the ADAAA provides that an impairment that is episodic or in remission is a disability if it would substantially limit a major life activity when active. Based upon that wording, a federal district court in the Northern District of Indiana has held that an employee with cancer is considered to be disabled under the Act, even if his condition is in remission at the time of he alleged adverse action taken against help by his employer.
Injured Employees ADA Suit Dismissed (pdf).
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
recently dismissed a lawsuit brought
by an employee who claimed that he
was fired in violation of the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA). The federal
appellate court with jurisdiction
over the Carolinas found that the
workers impairment did not substantially
limit his ability to work because
he could engage in a wide range of
daily activities and was qualified "to
work in over 100,000 jobs in his geographic
area."
Employee With Cerebral Palsy May Be "Disabled" Under The ADA (pdf)
Court Holds Workers Impairment Falls Within Federal Law Despite His Achievements.
First Circuit Rules No ADA Violation for Firing of Jailed Alcoholic.
The court rejected the ADA claim of an alcoholic who was fired after being jailed for drunk driving.
No Protection for Job Anxiety Under American With Disabilities Act.
The First Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that job anxiety is not a recognized disability under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Carroll v. Xerox Corp.
