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Temporary Disabilities Protected Under the ADA


Summers v. Altarum Institute, Corp. - Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals


Facts:  Summers was a senior analyst for a government contractor and requested permission to work remotely while he recovered from an October 2011 accident that left him incapacitated, with fractures in both legs.  Doctors prohibited Summers from putting any weight on his left leg for six weeks and predicted he would not walk normally for at least seven months.  Summers sent e-mails to his supervisors and the contractor he was working with and sought advice on how to return to work.  He initially suggested he take short term disability for a few weeks, then start working remotely from home part time, with an eventual increase in his hours until he was full time again.  However, the company refused to engage Summers in negotiations about working from home.  Effective at the start of December 2011, Summers was fired.

Summers filed an ADA discrimination claim for the discharge.  Altarum filed a motion to dismiss and the District Court granted the motion on the grounds that Summers was not a "qualified person with a disability" because, although he was physically impaired, a "temporary condition, even up to a year, does not fall within the purview of the [A]ct".  As a result, the District Court held Summers was not disabled, under the definition provided by the ADA.

Holding:  The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Altarum's motion to dismiss.  The Court recognized that Congress broadened the definition of "disability" by enacting the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA).  As a result, the "effects of an impairment lasting or expected to last fewer than six months can be substantially limiting" for purposes of proving an actual disability, if they are "sufficiently severe."  In this case, the Court recognized that the serious impairment alleged by Summers was severe enough to qualify.  

Consequently, employers need to be aware that temporary disabilities are protected under the ADA, and act accordingly or risk being exposed to liability for failure to comply with the Act.  

Judgment:  The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the district court's dismissal of Summers's wrongful discharge claim, holding that an impairment is not categorically excluded from being a disability, simply because it is temporary. 

Majority Opinion Judge:  Judge Motz

Date:  January 23, 2014

Opinion:  http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Published/131645.P.pdf

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