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Deference And Disability Discrimination, Rebecca H. White

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In 1999, the question of deference to the EEOC grabbed the spotlight. It surfaced in a case that arose under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (the "ADA"), a relatively new, and sweeping, anti-discrimination law that prohibits workplace discrimination against qualified individuals with a disability. A difficult substantive question was presented: Is the determination of whether one has a disability within the meaning of the ADA to be made with or without regard to mitigating measures? Instinctively, either a "yes" or a "no" answer seems problematic. On the one hand, defining disability without regard to the corrective effects of …