Determining if a Disability Exists Under the ADA is a Case by Case Determination

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Published on Monday, 23 January 2012 19:49

Employers must be aware that a determination of  whether an employee is disabled under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the American with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008(ADAAA),  is made on a case by case basis. A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals,10th Circuit, Allen v. Southcrest Hospital, No. 11-5016, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 25488 (10th Cir. Dec. 21, 2011), highlights this important point. In the Allen case, the court held that an employee diagnosed with migraine headaches was not disabled under the ADA/ADAAA, based on the particular facts before the court. The court’s decision demonstrates that that whether or not migraines (or any other medical condition) constitute a disability under the ADA/ADAAA, depends on the particular evidence presented. The employee in the Allen case worked as a medical assistant. She claimed that after she was transferred to work for a certain physician (who had a particularly hectic office schedule), she began experiencing migraine headaches, which varied in severity, and allegedly affected her ability to work and care for herself at home. Thus, in August 2009, after she was allegedly denied family and medical leave (to care for her daughter who was scheduled to give birth) and allegedly denied a reasonable accommodation for her migraines, the employee resigned and subsequently filed a lawsuit claiming violations of the ADA/ADAAA and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The employer moved for summary judgment on the ADA/ADAAA claim, which the district court granted, and the employee appealed. On appeal, the 10th Circuit held that the employee could not establish that her migraine headaches constituted a disability because she could not prove that the migraines substantially limited a major life activity under the ADA standards, and that the ADAAA standards would not be applied retroactively.  Thus, the court found for the employer. Read More. 

Tags:     ADA      ADAAA      disability discriminaiton