Court Rules Against Debilitated Employee in Disabilities Case

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Scotus-Rejected-Worker.html

Filed at 4:00 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Disabled people cannot demand jobs that would
threaten their lives or health, the Supreme Court said Monday in a
victory for employers who argued they could be forced to hire people who
would turn around and sue over workplace injuries.

The unanimous decision makes it clear that employers can turn away
people who want a job even if they would be risking their lives to do
it. The ruling also makes it easier to fire disabled people who already
have jobs that put their health in jeopardy.

``If Typhoid Mary had come under the ADA, would a meat packer have been
defenseless if Mary had sued after being turned away?'' Justice David H.
Souter asked rhetorically in his opinion for the court.


The justices reversed a lower court ruling in favor of Echazabal and
sent the case back for further review.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission struck the right balance
between protections for workers and employers when it wrote regulations
that applied in Echazabal's case, the court said.

The ADA requires employers to accommodate qualified disabled workers, but makes an exception for those who may be a threat to the safety or health of others on the job...

``The United States Supreme Court today once again demonstrated its
fundamental hostility to disability rights in the workplace,'' said
Andrew J. Imparato, president of the American Association of People with
Disabilities.

George Crisci, a Cleveland labor and employment lawyer, predicts still
more Supreme Court cases to refine what accommodations employers must
make.

``There's more work to be done,'' Crisci said.

The case is Chevron v. Echazabal, 01-1406.