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Is Hiv Disability Under The Americans With Disabilities Act: Unanswered Questions After Bragdon V. Abbott, Connie Mayer

Journal of Law and Health

Prior to the passage of the ADA in 1990, the term "individual with a handicap" had been clearly established under federal disability laws to include all people with HIV. Every reported decision under the Rehabilitation Act and the Fair Housing Amendment Act had determined that asymptomatic HIV was protected as a per se disability. Prior to 1997, only a few Courts had faced the issue of whether a plaintiff with asymptomatic HIV was disabled under the ADA. In 1997, the Fourth and First Circuit Courts of Appeal decided cases in direct conflict with one another, opening the door for the …