Law Commons^™

Building Community, Recognizing Dignity: Beyond The Ada, Karen Rothenberg, Alan Hornstein

Karen H. Rothenberg

No abstract provided.

Ideological Dissonance, Disability Backlash, And The Ada Amendments Act, Cheryl L. Anderson

Cheryl L Anderson

The ADA Amendments Act disappointed many disability advocates who argued “disability” should be determined solely upon a showing that an individual has a physical or mental impairment. This article argues that adopting an open-ended protected class would have exacerbated rather than eliminated judicial backlash against the ADA. The judiciary adopted an excessively narrow protected class to resolve the ideological dissonance between judges' belief that the right of reasonable accommodation is a special right and their desire to avoid granting “windfall protection” where there has been no systemic disadvantage. An open-ended protected class would lead courts to narrow the right of …

Raising The Dead?: The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Charles A. Sullivan

Charles A. Sullivan

If applied literally, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act has the potential to radically change the landscape for litigating claims under Title VII and other antidiscrimination laws. While limited to discrimination in compensation, as opposed to discrimination in other terms and conditions of employment, the FPA removes the statute of limitations not only for compensation decisions per se but for any “other practice” affecting compensation. Further, the new law is explicitly retroactive. Thus, a failure to promote plaintiff twenty years ago would seem to be actionable today, so long as the nonpromotion has an effect on current compensation. While the …

A Disability By Any Other Name Is Still A Disability: Log Cabin, The Disability Spectrum, And The Ada(Aa), Gabrielle L. Goodwin

Seventh Circuit Review

In EEOC v. Lee's Log Cabin, the Seventh Circuit followed the Supreme Court precedent of the last decade that has increasingly narrowed the determination of what constitutes a disabled individual under the Americans with Disabilities Act. In 2008, Congress passed the ADA Amendments Act in an attempt to restore the ADA to its original purpose and the original vision of the ADA's drafters and supporters. Whether these amendments will produce dramatic changes in the way the administrative agencies and courts apply the ADA remains to be seen. Nonetheless, the only way the ADA or its amendments will successfully protect …

Rights Resurgence: The Impact Of The Ada Amendments Act On Schools And Universities, Wendy F. Hensel

Georgia State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Corrective" Surgery And The Americans With Disabilities Act, Jeannette Cox

Jeannette Cox

This article challenges the assumption that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires persons with disabilities to undergo “corrective” surgery as a precondition to membership in the ADA’s protected class. This issue is ripe for discussion because current efforts to amend the ADA, although not focused on the “corrective” surgery issue, will unsettle the current doctrine underpinning many courts’ conclusions that an individual’s decision to forgo available medical technology bars her from relief under the ADA. The article aims to make two contributions. First, it argues that the ADA’s focus on reshaping cultural responses to disability suggests that individuals need …

The Disabled Lawyers Have Arrived; Have They Been Welcomed With Open Arms Into The Profession? An Empirical Study Of The Disabled Lawyer, Donald H. Stone

All Faculty Scholarship

This Article proceeds in seven parts. Part I briefly outlines the ADA's position on reasonable accommodations. Part II addresses how law firms are reacting and responding to the fact that they employ lawyers with mood disorders, such as depression or bipolar disorder, attorneys with learning disabilities, and individuals with alcohol or drug addiction. What disabilities are most often represented? Are lawyers with disabilities apt to receive work modifications to accommodate their disability? Are attorneys with mental illness provided with less stressful case assignments? Are lawyers with substance use disorders and alcohol or drug addiction assigned co-counsel to monitor or offer …

Transsexual Discrimination: Discrimination "Because Of…Sex", Tracy Scholnick Gruber

Louis Jackson National Student Writing Competition

No abstract provided.

The Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act: Protecting Privacy And Ensuring Fairness In Health Insurance And Employment Practices, Melissa Beyer

Louis Jackson National Student Writing Competition

Almost two centuries ago, Thomas Jefferson, one of this country’s foremost scientists and original thinkers, wrote, ‘[L]aws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As . . . new discoveries are made [and] new truths disclosed...institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the time.’ In this age of genetic breakthroughs, it is essential that our laws catch up with science. We can’t afford to take one step forward in science but two steps backward in civil rights. Our laws must specify, clearly and unambiguously, how genetic information may be used and how …

Statutory Leapfrog: Compensatory And Punitive Damages Under The Retaliatory Provision Of The Ada, David A. Doellman

Missouri Law Review

Equality has traditionally been an important issue in many different aspects of American life, and Congress created various laws to ensure that this equality is preserved. One of these laws is the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The ADA was created to ensure that those with disabilities would be treated equally in aspects of both public services and accommodations, as well as in the employment sector. Among its many provisions, the ADA serves to protect employees from being discharged from their positions in "retaliation" for opposing practices by the employer that would have also been unlawful under the …

The Prohibition Of Prosthetic Limbs In American Sports: The Issues And The Role Of The Americans With Disabilities Act, Christopher Bidlack

Marquette Sports Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rescuing Baby Doe, Mary Crossley

Articles

The twenty-fifth anniversary of the Baby Doe Rules offers a valuable opportunity to reflect on how much has changed during the past two-and-one-half decades and how much has stayed the same, at least in situations when parents and physicians face the birth of an infant who comes into the world with its life in peril.

The most salient changes are the medical advances in the treatment of premature infants and the changes in social attitudes towards and legal protections for people with disabilities. The threshold at which a prematurely delivered infant is considered viable has advanced steadily earlier into pregnancy, …

Harmful Error: How The Courts’ Failure To Apply The Harmless Error Doctrine Has Obstructed The Ada’S Standing Spectators Rule, Carolyn Larmore, Nina Golden

Carolyn Young Larmore

Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) explicitly applies to public accommodations, including sports arenas. What is significantly less clear, as evidenced by a split in courts' opinions, is the validity of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) standing spectator rule. This article will highlight a unique administrative law argument that would resolve the rift in favor of enforcing this important access rule. Standard 4.33.3 requires that individuals seated in wheelchairs in stadiums and other assembly areas have lines of sight comparable to those of the general public. Three years later, and without following the Administrative Procedure Act's (APA) …