Disability Discrimination Case Law

Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs, 538 U.S. 721 (2003) 123 S.Ct. 1972

The Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 entitles eligible employees to take up to 12 work weeks of unpaid leave annually for any of several reasons, including the onset of a "serious health condition" in an employee's spouse, child, or parent.

Barnett v. U.S. Air, 228 F.3d 1105 (9th Cir. 2000)

In order to determine an appropriate reasonable accommodation, the employer must initiate an informal, interactive process when he learns that the qualified individual with a disability is in need of accommodation.

Bragdon v. Abbott, 524 U.S. 624 (1998) 118 S.Ct. 2196

A person with asymptomatic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has an impairment that substantially limits her ability to engage in a major life activity - reproduction.

Colmenares v. Braemar Country Club, Inc., 29 Cal.4th 1019 (2003) 130 Cal.Rptr.2d 662, 63 P.3d 220

The California legislature amended the FEHA in 1992 defining physical disability as a physiological condition that 'limits' major life activities. The legislature later clarified in the Poppink Act of 2000 that a physical disability under the FEHA does not require the federal test's 'substantial limitation' of a major life activity, but instead the CA law's 'limit.'COLMENARES v.

Albertsons, Inc. v. Kirkingburg, 527 U.S. 555 (1999) 119 S.Ct. 2162

Monocular vision is not invariably a disability, but must be analyzed on an individual basis, taking into account mitigating measures such as the individual's ability to compensate for the impairment by wearing eyeglasses.

Murphy v. United Parcel Service, Inc., 527 U.S. 516 (1999) 119 S.Ct. 2133

An employee with high blood pressure was not "disabled" because his use of mitigating measures - blood pressure medication - allowed him to function in everyday activities.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky., Inc. v. Williams, 534 U.S. 184 (2002) 122 S.Ct. 681

No agency has been given the authority to issue regulations interpreting the term "disability" in the ADA. The EEOC has done so anyway, and we assume that it is a reasonable definition without deciding whether it is or is not. To qualify as disabled under subsection (A) of the ADA's definition of disability, a claimant must initially prove that he or she has a physical or mental impairment.

Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc., 527 U.S. 471 (1999) 119 S.Ct. 2139

No agency has been delegated authority to interpret the term 'disability.' Severely myopic twin sisters with uncorrected visual acuity of 20/200 or worse were not "disabled" because their use of mitigating measures - corrective lenses - allowed them to function identically to individuals without similar impairments.

Parr v. Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Company, 791 F.2d 888 (11th Cir. 1986)

An employer cannot discriminate against a person because of his interracial association with another, such as by an interracial marriage.


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