DREDF joined as co-counsel in amicus curiae brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of a wide variety of disability organizations including the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), AARP, the American Council of the Blind (ACB), the American Diabetes Association (ADA), ADAPT, the Brain Injury Association of America, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, (“DREDF”), Epilepsy Foundation, HalfthePlanet Foundation, the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, the Legal Aid Society Employment Law Center (LAS-ELC), the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), the National Association of the Deaf Law Center, the National Association of Developmental Disabilities Councils (NADDC), the National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems (NAPAS), the National Association of Rights Protection and Advocacy (NARPA), the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), the National Mental Health Association, the National Mental Health Consumers – Self-Help Clearinghouse, the Polio Society, The Arc of the United States (The Arc), and the United Cerebral Palsy Associations, Inc. (UCP).
This case considered whether the Americans with Disabilities Act permits an employer to refuse to hire or retain an employee who is a person with a disability _ as defined in the Act by proving that the conditions of employment pose a direct threat to the health or safety of that person.
On June 10, 2002, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that employers do not have to hire a person with a disability if they believe that person’s health or safety would be put at risk by performing the job.
Co-Counsel:
- AARP Foundation Litigation
- Bazelon Center
- Shea & Gardner