per the ADA: "An individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as a person
who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. The ADA does not specifically name all of the impairments that are covered." Eric W Rudd [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2008 1:25 PM Subject: [QUAD-L] Court: disability laws protect those unable to have sex By the way.... what is a disabled person? Who makes that judgement? What is a person with a disability and who makes that judgement? Do doctors make the judgement? Does CMS make that call? Does the license bureau declare by issuing special license plates and placards? Who is a single source responsible for passing judgement and making that call? Certainly, not me. W In a message dated 7/26/2008 12:29:58 P.M. Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I knew this would happen. now any company that hires a fridged secretary can say they hire handicapped people. Don't forget to give them a parking permitt so their genitals don't fall off in the parking lot. When I started seeing fat people being listed as handicapped I knew this crap was on the way. As soon as anyone at work mentons her handicap shes back in court for sexual harrassment. Our legal system has turned stupidity into an artform. Our schools have made it mandatory, and our politicians are the poster children. Next year all ugly people will be called handicapped. I'll be double dipping. john ----- Original Message ---- From: Eric W Rudd <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2008 11:38:34 AM Subject: Re: [QUAD-L] Court: disability laws protect those unable to have sex see if this works Eric W Rudd [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/5902097.html Court: disability laws protect those unable to have sex Mcclatchy-tribune WASHINGTON — A South Carolina breast-cancer survivor has beaten the State Department and convinced judges in Washington that the inability to have sex is a disability protected under federal anti-discrimination laws. The new appellate-court ruling gives Piedmont, S.C., resident Kathy E. Adams another potential shot at serving overseas. More broadly, the ruling cracks open the courtroom door for additional legal challenges by those who are sexually incapacitated. "I think it's a major victory for former cancer patients, and for anyone who has had their sex life disrupted," Adams' attorney, David H. Shapiro, said Tuesday. Adams wants to compel the State Department to hire her as a foreign service officer and provide back pay. She'll now go before a jury and trial judge, unless the State Department relents first. In its 2-1 decision, issued Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that Adams has a case against the State Department. Most significantly, the D.C. circuit court ruled for its first time that laws that protect people with disabilities from discrimination cover "sexual relations." The ruling overturns a trial judge who'd dismissed Adams' case. "At the risk of stating the obvious, sex is unquestionably a significant human activity, one our species has been engaging in at least since the biblical injunction to 'be fruitful and multiply,' " appellate Judge David Tatel wrote. Tatel concluded that sex is the kind of "major life activity" that Congress considered when it passed the Rehabilitation Act in 1973. The law, like the better-known Americans with Disabilities Act, prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities. Lawmakers defined a disability as an impairment that "substantially limits" a major life activity. Courts still struggle to explain what that means. Last week, for instance, the D.C. appellate court determined that "sleeping" is a protected major life activity. Walking, seeing and hearing, among many other activities, likewise have been identified as "major." The new ruling comes from what's sometimes called the nation's second-highest court, meaning that many lawyers will be parsing its words. "As a basic physiological act practiced regularly by a vast portion of the population, a cornerstone of family and marital life, a conduit to emotional and spiritual fulfillment, and a crucial element in intimate relationships, sex easily qualifies as a major life activity," Tatel wrote. A State Department spokeswoman said the department was still reviewing the decision. Adams couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday. The Russian-speaking Adams aced the State Department's Foreign Service written and oral exams in 2002, ranking seventh out of 200 candidates. Living about 15 miles south of Greenville, she was in line to start training in January 2004. Before her training started, doctors diagnosed her with breast cancer. She underwent surgery, but the State Department subsequently denied her entry into the Foreign Service. "The department could not guarantee (her) access to the required medical follow-up and surveillance at all overseas assignments," a State Department nurse testified. State Department officials added, and the dissenting appellate judge agreed, that the department didn't know about Adams' sexual disability when it declined to hire her. The court majority, however, reasoned that "it makes no difference whether an employer has precise knowledge of an employee's substantial limitation" so long as the employer knows about the impairment. In this case, the State Department knew about Adams' breast cancer but didn't know how the cancer treatments impaired her sex life. Adams underwent a mastectomy, had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed, gained weight and felt her libido wither. "I now find that the prospect of dating and developing an intimate relationship is just too painful and frightening," Adams, who is single, stated in a declaration. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today.
