County of Cook v. Nawara
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits covered employers from requiring medical examinations or inquiries “of an employee as to whether such employee is an individual with a disability or as to the nature or severity of the disability,” unless the examinations or inquiries are job-related and justified by business necessity. This prohibition applies to all employees, regardless of whether they have or are perceived to have a disability. And under Title I of the ADA, an employee who proves discrimination on account of disability is eligible for backpay. The ADA also specifies that “[t]he prohibition against discrimination” under Title I “shall include medical examinations and inquiries.”
In this case, a jury found that the employer had required a medical examination or inquiry unjustified by business necessity. Although the plaintiff has no actual of perceived disability, the court of appeals agreed that the employer’s violation of the medical-inquiry provision constituted discrimination as defined in the ADA.
The employer filed a petition seeking Supreme Court review. Serving as co-counsel in the Supreme Court, we prepared the brief in opposition, explaining that the employer’s reading is unsupported by the statutory text and has not been adopted by any court of appeals.