The ADA Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary – A Look Back at the Development Of The Act

Twenty-five years ago this week, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA") was enacted into law with its stated purpose being "to provide clear, strong, consistent, enforceable standards addressing discrimination against individuals with disabilities." Title 1 of the ADA specifically prohibited employment discrimination against "qualified" individuals with disabilities.

The ADA created new opportunities and protections for those who faced a long history of discrimination due to unfair stereotypes and assumptions as to how individuals with disabilities can meaningfully contribute to society. In the workplace environment, the ADA provided that an individual can assert a claim for discrimination on the basis of disability if (1) he/she has a disability; (2) he/she is qualified, with or without reasonable accommodation, to perform the essential functions of the position; and (3) the employer took an adverse action against the employee because of his/her disability, or failed to make reasonable accommodations for the employee.

After the ADA was enacted, however, federal courts rarely looked at whether any discrimination actually occurred in the workplace, but rather focused on whether an employee's condition was, in fact, a "disability," which the ADA defined as having: (a) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, (b) a record of such impairment, or (c) being regarded as having such impairment.

At first, the lower courts and Supreme Court narrowly construed the ADA's definition of "disability" such that it actually excluded the majority of individuals that the statute was intended to protect. These decisions allowed employers to successfully fight off disability claims. Beginning with Sutton v. United Airlines, Inc., 527 U.S. 471, (1999) and Murphy v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., 527 U.S. 516 (1999), the Supreme Court opined that mitigating measures (such as medication or devices) should be taken into account in determining whether a person was substantially limited in a major life activity. In other words, if a certain medication or technological device or apparatus enabled a person with an impairment to function well, that person was often held by a court not to have a disability under the ADA, even if the impairment was the basis for discrimination.

A few years later, in Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. v. Williams, 534 U.S. 184 (2002), the Supreme Court further narrowed...