Labor Employment Law Blog

Employers who use across the board qualification standards, such as hearing and vision tests, to reduce safety risks that potentially screen out disabled employees may need to reevaluate these standards.  In Bates v. UPS, the Ninth Circuit tightened the already stringent standards for employers who use such across the board qualification standards in the name of safety.  The Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") has long been construed to allow employers to use qualification standards which screen out certain disabled individuals as long as the standards relate to an essential job function and are justified by "business necessity."  The Ninth Circuit recently determined that showing justification by "business necessity" requires an individual assessment of each applicant or employee in order to determine whether reasonable accommodation might permit the applicant or employee to safely perform the job.

Click here to view a PDF copy of the document.

In Head v. Glacier Northwest Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") does not require employees to produce comparative or medical evidence to create a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether they have an impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. Further, the Ninth Circuit also held that an employee need only prove that his disability was a "motivating" factor in an employer's decision to terminate him or otherwise take an adverse employment action against him. Taken together, these two holdings further stack the deck against employers in ADA lawsuits.