Reality Hits: The Temporarily Impaired can be “Disabled” under the ADA
When Congress passed amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act in 2008 (“ADAAA”), it was reacting, in part, to a series of Supreme Court decisions. One of those decisions, Toyota Motors Manufacturing, Kentucky Inc. v. Williams (2002), adopted a strict construction of the term “disability,” and ruled that a “temporary impairment” could not qualify as a disability. Many lower courts applied Toyota Motors to mean that an impairment that did not last for more than 12 months did not qualify as a “disability.” In amending the ADA, Congress made clear it was overruling Toyota Motors and made it clear that […]
