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Source and Scope of Public Health Legal Powers

Exby-Stolley v. Board of County Commissioners

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Overview

Exby-Stolley v. Board of County Commissioners (U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, October 11, 2020): The Tenth Circuit ruled that the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) anti-discrimination provision does not require an adverse employment action to sue, concluding that a blind law clerk could invoke ADA protections whether or not she suffered an adverse employment action. Noting that the language “adverse employment action” does not expressly appear in the ADA’s provision, the court determined that the lower court had improperly added that language to the ADA’s plain text. Incorporation of such a requirement into the ADA’s text is contrary to prior decisions, the nature of a failure-to-accommodate claim, ADA’s remedial purposes, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s understanding of the elements of an ADA failure-to-accommodate claim. Read the full decision here. 

View all cases in the Judicial Trends in Public Health – December 1, 2020.

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