Supreme Court's ADA Decision

The Supreme Court issued four landmark decisions on the Americans with Disabilities Act in one day. Although the cases specifically involved employment issues, the decisions are based on the Court's interpretation of the definition of disability. Because the definition applies to all titles of the act, the cases may have an impact on public access and service as well as on employment.

The Court rejected the plaintiffs' interpretation of disability holding instead that whether or not a disability exists must be determined in the context of corrective measures. Thus, whether a disability is one that substantially limits a major life activity must be evaluated in the context of corrective devices. The determination must be made in the context of the individual; not as a larger consideration of whether a certain type of disability would substantially limit the group of persons having that characteristic.

Copyright © 1999 Compliance Action. Originally appeared in Compliance Action, Vol. 4, No. 8, 7/99