Date of Award

1996

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Business Administration

Department

Business

First Advisor

Betty LeMasters

Second Advisor

James Lister

Third Advisor

Gary Gardiner

Abstract

This thesis documents how the impact of court decisions will define the terms of The Americans With Disabilities Act.

Research on The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) shows the lack of clearly defined terms in the regulations. Terms like essential functions, reasonable accommodation, and undue hardship may have different meanings for each individual business.

The Americans With Disabilities Act is not a group rights piece of legislation. Individuals having a like disability may have dissimilar needs of accommodation. All muscular dystrophy patients, for example, do not have like symptoms or progression of the disease. At different stages each individual will need separate accommodations to perform essential job functions in the work place. Because no one definition regulates accommodations for each specific disability the need for businesses to monitor how courts are defining ADA is paramount.

The purpose of this study is to look at various ADA cases and analyze the outcome. Looking at various similarities in case law may prove to be the only way for businesses to protect against future litigation.

Of the twenty ADA cases examined, some have similar issues. This gives credibility to the premise that courts are defining cases singularly not necessarily similarly. The analysis of the case decisions lends support to the current belief that courts are continuing to decide cases by using a very narrow definition of the law. This action will help businesses effectively manage employees with disabilities in the workplace. Businesses that review court cases will have a better chance of making appropriate decisions and therefore preventing future litigation.

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