Court Rules that
Sexual Impairment is Covered by 1973
Rehabilitation Act
[Posted 08/01/2008]
The US
Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has expanded the
definition of “disability” for federal employees
protected under the1973 Rehabilitation Act to
include the inability to have sex.
The
ruling reversed a district court dismissal of a
claim that the State Department had discriminated
against an employee with a history of breast cancer
by denying her medical clearance to serve in the
Foreign Service. The district court concluded that
the employee’s cancer did not qualify as a
disability because it was neither long-term nor
permanent. However, the appellate court ruled that
the employee’s treatment for the disease (removal
of her breasts, ovaries, and fallopian tubes), did
qualify because the employee could show that it
limited a major life activity, i.e., her ability to
enter into romantic relationships.
Employment lawyers expect the ruling to lead to a
multitude of new claims.
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