ADA Policy Brief Series #13: Supreme Court's ADA Decisions Regarding Substantial Limitation of Major Life Activities

April 29, 2003

SCOPE AND PURPOSE:

The Supreme Court of the United States has made several decisions that affect the interpretation of the requirement in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that, to qualify as a disability under the Act, a condition must substantially limit one or more major life activities. While a few of the Court’s statements regarding that requirement may prove beneficial to certain plaintiffs in future cases, the overall effect of the Court’s decisions has been to make it more difficult to establish a substantial limitation on a major life activity. NCD looks at how these decisions impact people with disabilities.