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Courts Not Receptive to ADA Claims (1998)

An analysis of 261 Americans with Disabilities Act decisions by the editors of the National Disability Law Reporter and Disability Compliance Bulletin shows that most federal appeals court decisions favor ADA defendants. These decisions are worrisome for ADA plaintiffs because judicial precedent becomes firmly entrenched at the federal appellate level. Plaintiffs had just a one-in-five chance of succeeding in an ADA claim. The analysis included both employment and non-employment claims. The act defines a person with a disability as one whose disability substantially limits his/her ability to perform one or more major life activity. In employment-related cases, because it is very difficult to establish that an employee is a person with a substantially limiting disability, employers have been very successful in raising the "no disability" defense. Because many variables determine the ultimate outcome of any particular case, it is difficult to draw definitive, far-reaching conclusions from this compilation of cases. Furthermore, these decisions do not take into account cases that reached resolution through a negotiated settlement, precluding a need to progress to the appellate level. The decisions also raise the importance of the collective bargaining process in securing equitable treatment for our members with disabilities at the workplace. For more information or assistance, please call the Department of Research and Collective Bargaining Services at (202) 429-1215.

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