Another Court Holds that Driving is Not a Major Life Activity
For there to be a successful claim of disability discrimination against an employer, there must first be a determination that the employee is, in fact, disabled. Under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), a medical condition can be deemed a disability causes an impairment of a "major life activity." Many disability claims therefore turn on the interpretation of what is a "major life activity."
Such was the issue in the 7th Circuit case of Winsley v. Cook County. Plaintiff in that case was a nurse, and her position required that she drive to the homes of the patients. For medical reasons, the plaintiff became unable to drive, accept to and from work. The County could not continue to employer her with that restriction, and she claimed that was disability discrimination.
On a motion for summary judgment, the trial court concluded, and the District Court agreed, that driving is not a major life activity. The court noted that activities recognized as major life activities by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) "are so important to everyday life that almost anyone would consider himself limited in a material way if he could not perform them." The court concluded, however, that "this is not the case with driving." The court noted that the 2nd, 10th and 11th Circuits have all reached the same conclusion.
As you can see, the determination of what is a "major life activity" can be very nuanced. Most of us would feel very limited if we could not drive, but the law looks more at the body than the activity. For example, if a medical condition made it difficult to sit for periods of time, the court might find that to be a sufficient impairment. But translating that inability to some external activity such as driving is less likely to pass muster.
http://www.businesslawalert.com/admin/trackback/127368
