Want to know how courts are going to handle Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuits from here on in? A recent case out of Texas provides a clue.
Here are the highlights:
Michael Norton was working at an assisted living facility when he was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on his left kidney.
He took time off for surgery, and returned to work shortly thereafter with his cancer in remission – only to be fired one month later.
Norton sued, claiming disability discrimination.
The firm countered that Norton was fired for poor performance. It added that Norton didn’t have a disability, anyway – his cancer was in remission.
Here’s the key part of the federal district judge’s ruling: The new ADA states that impairments that are in remission still count as a disability if they’d substantially limit a major life activity – such as normal cell growth – when active.
That’s a crucial change in the new ADA regs — an outgrowth of the ADA Amendment Act’s broadening of the definition of a “major life activity.”
Seems likely this will be the trend for ADA decisions in the near-future.
Cite: Norton v. Assisted Living Concepts, Inc.
