Introduction to basic
ADA claims
The ADA provides certain protections and grants
certain rights to persons who have a disability. However, the ADA only applies to
employers who have 15 or more employees. See, EEOC v. St. Francis Xavier Parochial
School, 117 F.3d 621 (D.C. Cir. 1997).
If you want to read the actual federal statutes that make up the ADA,
click here.
This link will take you to a table of contents page for the ADA. You will
be primarily interested in "SUBCHAPTER 1 - EMPLOYMENT."
In our article,
Introduction
to Employment Discrimination Law, we explain that most employment discrimination
laws are designed to make sure that everyone is provided equal treatment
regardless of age, color, disability, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion,
gender,
etc. However, a few discrimination laws require employers to provide special treatment
to persons falling into certain categories.
For example, Title VII requires that women be
treated the same as men, but it does not require that women be given preferential or
special treatment when employment decisions are made.
On the other hand, the Family and Medical Leave
Act does require (in part) that employees with a "serious health condition" be
treated specially in the sense that they are entitled to 12 weeks of leave, while
employees without a serious health condition are not entitled to any leave.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
contains provisions which require that employees be provided equal treatment in some
circumstances and special treatment in other circumstances.
For example, let's assume that a deaf person
applies for a job and that his inability to hear is not a disadvantage in performing this
particular job. However, even though the person is well qualified, the company does not
like the idea of hiring a deaf person. So the person is not hired. In this example, the
employer violated the ADA by failing to treat the deaf person the same as a person who
could hear. In other words, the deaf person was treated unequally because of his
disability.
Now, a second example. A person who can hear is
already working for the company. But this person has an accident and becomes deaf. In
order to continue performing his job, the employee needs the employer to provide some
reasonable accommodation, but the employer refuses to do so. In this situation, the
employer violates the ADA by failing to provide the employee with the accommodation -- or
stated another way, by failing to provide the employee with special treatment.
So some ADA cases involve situations where the
plaintiff claims that he or she was treated unequally "because of" his or her
disability. Other cases involve situations where the plaintiff claims that he or she was
not provided special treatment (in the form of a reasonable accommodation).
Who is a "qualified individual
with a disability"
In order to file an ADA lawsuit, a person
must be a "qualified individual with a disability." A "qualified
individual with a disability" is a person with a disability who with or without
reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment position
that such individual holds or desires." 42 U.S.C. Section 12111 (8).
In determining whether someone is disabled,
courts engage in individualized assessments. In other words, two people can suffer heart
attacks and perhaps one will be a "qualified individual with a disability" and
the other one will not. Each case must be assessed individually. See, Deas v. River
West, L.P., 152 F.3d 471 (5th Cir. 1998). Also, in determining whether someone is disabled,
courts consider any corrective measures that lessen the impact of the physical or mental
impairment. For example, medication, eyeglasses, prosthetic limbs, etc. See,
Sutton v.
United Airlines, Inc., 119 S.Ct. 2139 (1999).
The next few pages will
define the following terms: (1) disability; (2) reasonable accommodation; (3) essential
functions; and (4) holds or desires.
