COMMON SENSE prevails
By ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - In a victory for employers, the Supreme Court made it more difficult for workers to demand special treatment when they suffer partial physical disabilities such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
Tuesday's unanimous decision in the case of a former assembly line worker narrows the scope of the landmark civil rights law that protects the disabled. It was the latest in a series of Supreme Court rulings that set boundaries on who is covered by the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act, and tell why.
Disability cannot be measured solely on the ability to do certain tasks at work, the court ruled Tuesday. Whether someone is disabled also must depend on the ease with which they perform ``activities that are of central importance to most people's daily lives,'' Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote for the court.
Into that category the court put walking, seeing and hearing, among other things. The court said it does not extend, as a lower federal appeals court held, to the ability to perform some manual tasks on the job.
The disability must also be permanent or long-lasting, O'Connor wrote.
By ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - In a victory for employers, the Supreme Court made it more difficult for workers to demand special treatment when they suffer partial physical disabilities such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
Tuesday's unanimous decision in the case of a former assembly line worker narrows the scope of the landmark civil rights law that protects the disabled. It was the latest in a series of Supreme Court rulings that set boundaries on who is covered by the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act, and tell why.
Disability cannot be measured solely on the ability to do certain tasks at work, the court ruled Tuesday. Whether someone is disabled also must depend on the ease with which they perform ``activities that are of central importance to most people's daily lives,'' Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote for the court.
Into that category the court put walking, seeing and hearing, among other things. The court said it does not extend, as a lower federal appeals court held, to the ability to perform some manual tasks on the job.
The disability must also be permanent or long-lasting, O'Connor wrote.
, but
