Great Lakes ADA and Accessible IT Center

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The US Supreme Court has addressed a number of ADA related issues over the years. This page is provided as a resource to locate the various decisions made by the Supreme Court. In some cases supplemental information and/or resources have been provided.

The information provided was not produced by the Great Lakes ADA and Accessible IT Center and we are not responsible for the interpretations and opinions that appear in the Supplemental Resources and/or actual Supreme Court Decisions.

 

 

Arbitration of Employment Disputes

1998

WRIGHT v. UNIVERSAL MARITIME SERVICE CORP. (97-889) 121 F.3d 702

Question(s) before the Court:

*1) Whether a general arbitration clause in a collective bargaining
      agreement requires an employee to use the arbitration procedure to address
      an alleged violation of the ADA

2002

EEOC V. WAFFLE HOUSE, INC. (99-1823) 193 F.3d 805

Question(s) before the Court:

*1) Whether an agreement between an employer and an employee to arbitrate
      employment-related disputes bars the EEOC from pursuing victim-specific
      judicial relief under the ADA

 

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Attorney's Fees

2001

BUCKHANNON BOARD & CARE HOME, INC. v. WEST VIRGINIA DEPT. OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN RESOURCES (99-1848) 203 F.3d 819

Question(s) before the Court:

*1) Whether federal statutes that allow courts to award attorney's fees and
      costs to the "prevailing party" authorize awards of fees to parties whose
      lawsuits brought about voluntary changes in the defendants' conduct but did
      not result in judgments on the merits or court ordered consent decrees.

 

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Definition of Disability

1998

    BRAGDON v. ABBOTT (97-156) 107 F.3d 934

Question(s) before the Court:

*1) Whether asymptomatic HIV is a disability under the ADA
*2) When deciding whether a private health care provider must perform
      invasive procedures on an infectious patient in his office, should courts
      defer to the provider's professional judgment, as long as it is reasonable
      in light of then current medical knowledge?

1999

SUTTON v. UNITED AIR LINES, INC. (97-1943) 130 F.3d 893

Question(s)) before the Court:

*1) Whether corrective and mitigating measures should be considered in
      determining whether an individual is disabled under the ADA


Supplemental Resources:

EEOC Compliance Manual Section 902 - Definition of Disability

EEOC Instructions for Field Offices: Analyzing ADA Charges After Supreme
Court Decisions Addressing "Disability" and "Qualified"




MURPHY v. UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. (97-1992) 141 F.3d 1185

Question(s) before the Court:

*1) Whether conditions that are improved with medication should be
      considered in the medicated or non-medicated state for purposes of
      determining disability
*2) What does the "regarded as" prong mean under the ADA


Supplemental Resources:

EEOC Compliance Manual Section 902 - Definition of Disability

EEOC Instructions for Field Offices: Analyzing ADA Charges After Supreme
Court Decisions Addressing "Disability" and "Qualified"



ALBERTSONS, INC. v. KIRKINGBURG (98-591) 143 F.3d 1228

Question(s) before the Court:

*1) Whether having monocular vision constitutes per se disability under the ADA.
*2) Whether an employer who requires as a job qualification that an employee
      meet an otherwise applicable federal safety regulation must justify enforcing the           
      regulation solely because its standard may be waived in an individual case

Supplemental Resources:

EEOC Compliance Manual Section 902 - Definition of Disability

EEOC Instructions for Field Offices: Analyzing ADA Charges After Supreme
Court Decisions Addressing "Disability" and "Qualified"

 

2002

TOYOTA MOTOR MFG., KY., INC. V. WILLIAMS (00-1089) 224 F.3d 840

Question(s) before the Court:

*1) What is the proper standard for determining whether an individual is
      substantially limited in performing manual tasks

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Definition of Employee

2003

CLACKAMAS GASTROENTEROLOGY ASSOCIATES,P.C. V. WELLS (01-1435) 271 F.3d 903
Question(s) before the Court:

*1) Whether the four physician-shareholders who own the professional
corporation and constitute its board of directors are counted as employees
for purposes of determining whether or not the corporation was covered under
the Employment Provisions of the ADA by having 15 or more employees.

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Direct Threat

2002

CHEVRON U.S.A. INC. V. ECHAZABAL (00-1406) 226 F.3d 1063

Question(s) before the Court:

1) Whether the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 permits a regulation
      of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which authorizes refusal to
      hire an individual because his performance on the job would endanger his own
      health, owing to a disability (direct threat to self).

 

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Disability Benefits

1999

CLEVELAND v. POLICY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS CORP. (97-1008) 120 F.3d 513

Question(s) before the Court:

*1) The extent to which application for and receipt of disability benefits
      precludes a person with a disability from bringing an ADA claim

 

 

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Modification of Policy and Procedure

2001

PGA TOUR, INC. v. MARTIN (00-24) 204 F.3d 994

Question(s) before the Court:

*1) Whether Title III of the ADA protects qualified entrants with
      disabilities participating in professional golf tournaments, and whether
      allowing a golfer with a disability to use a golf cart when all other
      competitors must walk would "fundamentally alter the nature" of the
      tournaments.

 

 

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Most Integrated Setting

1999

OLMSTEAD v. L. C. (98-536) 138 F.3d 893

Question(s) before the Court:

*1) Whether the ADA requires a state to place persons with mental
      disabilities in community settings rather than in institutions when the
      state's treatment professionals have determined that community placement is
      appropriate, and what standard is to be applied in assessing a state's
      assertion of a fundamental alteration defense to the obligation to afford
      such community placement


Supplemental Resources:

US Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights

Bazelton Center for Mental Health Law 

National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems

 

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Prisons and Prisoners – Title II

1998

PENNSYLVANIA DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS v. YESKEY (97-634) 118 F.3d 168

Question(s) before the Court:

*1) Whether Title II of the ADA covers state prisons and prisoners

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Punitive and Compensatory Damages

2001

BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA v. GARRETT (99-1240) 193 F.3d 1214 

Question(s) before the Court:

*1) Whether the 11th Amendment bars employees of a state from recovering
      monetary damages from the state for violations of Title I of the ADA

Supplemental Resources:

Links from the Disability Rights Education Defense Fund (DREDF) web site to Amicus Briefs filed in the Garrett Case: http://www.dredf.org/garrett.html

2002

BARNES V. GORMAN (01-682) 257 F.3d 738

Question(s) before the Court:

1) Whether punitive damages may be awarded in a private cause of action brought under      Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the 
     Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

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Reasonable Accommodation

2002

US AIRWAYS, INC. V. BARNETT (00-1250) 228 F.3d 1105

Question(s) before the Court:

1) How the ADA resolves a potential conflict between the interests of a
      disabled worker who seeks assignment to a particular position as a
      "reasonable accommodation" and the interests of other workers with superior
      rights to bid for the job under an employer's seniority system. 

2) Does the accommodation demand trump the seniority system?





Some of the information that appears on this web page was taken from the
following resource:

SUPREME COURT DECISIONS INTERPRETING THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT
(March 8, 2002)

Chart - Supreme Court Decisions Interpreting the Americans with Disabilities Act 
(March 2002)

Authored by: Professor Robert L. Burgdorf Jr. on behalf of the National Council on Disability
National Council on Disability
1331 F Street, NW, Suite 850
Washington, DC 20004
202-272-2004 Voice
202-272-2074 TTY
202-272-2022 Fax
www.ncd.gov

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