Pleading Disability After the ADAAA

80 Pages Posted: 31 Oct 2013 Last revised: 13 Sep 2021

See all articles by Kevin M. Barry

Kevin M. Barry

Quinnipiac University - School of Law

Brian East

Disability Rights Texas

Marcy Lynn Karin

University of the District of Columbia David A Clarke School of Law

Date Written: March 24, 2014

Abstract

Five years ago, Congress passed the ADA Amendments Act, and amended the definition of disability to reinstate the ADA’s broad scope of coverage, which had been unduly narrowed by the Supreme Court and lower courts for nearly twenty years. Three years ago, the EEOC revised its regulations to clarify that broad scope of coverage. Since then, courts have gone to work interpreting this new scope of coverage. The preliminary results are good, but they could be better.

While the ADAAA made a host of important changes to the ADA’s definition of disability, employee-side lawyers need to do a better job taking advantage of these changes. This Article serves as a roadmap for pleading disability under the ADA, as amended. It explains the law’s core provisions by highlighting important information from the ADAAA’s statutory text, EEOC final regulations & guidance, and case precedent. It also summarizes findings from an empirical review of how disability has been plead under the ADA in complaints filed in the 2nd, 5th, and 9th Circuits. Finally, this Article offers tips to plaintiffs and their attorneys on how to properly plead "disability" based on the observed challenges and missed opportunities observed in the ADA complaints that were reviewed in this study.

Suggested Citation

Barry, Kevin M. and East, Brian and Karin, Marcy, Pleading Disability After the ADAAA (March 24, 2014). 31 HOFSTRA LAB. & EMP. L. J. 1 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2347506

Kevin M. Barry

Quinnipiac University - School of Law ( email )

275 Mt. Carmel Ave.
Hamden, CT 06518
United States

Brian East

Disability Rights Texas ( email )

2222 W. Braker Lane
Austin, TX 78723
United States

Marcy Karin (Contact Author)

University of the District of Columbia David A Clarke School of Law ( email )

4340 Connecticut Avenue NW, Bldg. 52
Washington, DC 20008
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
253
Abstract Views
1,806
Rank
219,894
PlumX Metrics