by Jackson Lewis

A number of employment cases are on the slate for the Supreme Court's 2001 - 2002 term which concludes next June. Among them are a trio of cases involving questions under the Americans with Disabilities Act, specifically:

1. does an individual fall within the Act's protection if an impairment prevents that person from performing a particular job, as opposed to a class of job-related activities;
   
2. does the ADA require an employer to make a reasonable accommodation if to do so would violate an existing bona fide seniority system;
   
3. does the ADA allow an employer to exclude from a particular job a disabled worker who faces a potential threat to his own health or safety but does not pose a threat to anyone else in the workplace.

The first case asks the High Court to examine the scope of protection the ADA affords individuals claiming impairments which impede their ability to perform major life activities, including the ability to work. In the second case, the justices will attempt to strike a balance between the ADA’s mandate that employers make reasonable accommodations for otherwise qualified individuals and valid seniority systems which would prohibit such actions. The third case will test an interpretation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that the ADA does not protect an individual whose disability poses a direct threat only to himself and not to his co-workers.

Other cases pending before the Court involve:

1. whether Title VII’s statute of limitations bars a claim based on a theory of a “continuing violation” of protected rights;
   
2. the validity of a procedure to correct technical defects or omissions in discrimination charges before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; and,
   
3. several procedural issues in age discrimination litigation.

The Court also will decide whether an employer in violation of the National Labor Relations Act must give back pay to an undocumented alien illegally working in the U.S.

For more information or assistance, please contact the attorney with whom you regularly work, or Margaret Bryant, at (412) 232-0404 or [email protected].