Summer 1999
SUPREME COURT RULINGS
The Supreme Court handed down several landmark rulings in June relating to ADA issues. The most discussed and debated case was Sutton vs. United Airlines. In this case, identical twin sisters, both severely nearsighted but with 20/20 corrected vision, were turned down for employment as commercial airline pilots by United Airlines because their uncorrected vision did not meet the airlines' minimum standard of 20/100. The women filed suit under the ADA.
The Court ruled 7‑2 to dismiss the women's complaint, stating that they do not have an actual physical impairment that substantially limits the major life activity of working. The Court held that the determination of whether an individual is disabled should be made with reference to measures that mitigate the individual's impairment. Another critical question remained: whether the women could qualify for coverage under the ADA based on the theory that they were wrongly regarded as having a substantially limiting impairment. On this claim, the court ruled that the plaintiffs alleged only that they were unable to work as global airline pilots, but were not regarded as substantially limited in their ability to work.
Ida Castro, Chairwoman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), said that while the rulings "...appear to significantly narrow the scope of those covered
On July 25, volunteers to ADA‑OHIO hosted a ninth anniversary celebration of the signing of the ADA. The event was held at the Statehouse Atrium in downtown Columbus. Corporate sponsors for the event included American Electric Power, Ameritech, Blaugrund, Herbert & Martin, Inc., Bob Evans Farms, Inc., Damon's, Kraft Foods, Kroger, Longaberger, Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse, Ohio Association of Realtors, Ohio Development Disabilities Council, Scholastic Books, and Stanford Interior Gardens, Inc.
A big THANK YOU is in order for all participants in this event. We can now look forward to the tenth anniversary gala in July 2000.under the ADA, the Court affirmed EEOC's standard of individualized approach to the assessment of coverage under ADA. In other words, the determination of whether an individual can bring a claim under the ADA should be assessed on a case‑by‑case basis."
More information regarding the Sutton vs. United Airlines case, as well as the other ADA Supreme Court decisions, can be obtained by visiting the Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute website at www.law.comell.edu.
An estimated 4 million children and adolescents, or 6.1% of the U.S. population under 18 years of age, have disabilities. Here, disability is defined broadly to include any limitation in activity due to a chronic health condition or impairment. Among children under 5, 2% are limited in play activities, with an additional 0.8% limited in some other way. Among school‑age children (5‑17), 5.5% have school‑related disabilities (including 3.2% who attend special schools or classes), and an additional 2% are limited in non‑school activities.
Source: Disability Statistics Center
The mission of ADA-OHIO is to provide information, technical assistance, and training in an effort to voluntary compliance and positive implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990(ADA).