Epilepsy Foundation Fights for Employment Rights Under ADA: Files Amicus Brief in Support of Worker with Epilepsy

5/14/2003

From: Peter VanHaverbeke, 800-470-1655 ext. 3772 or Sylvia Blair ext. 3773; both of the Epilepsy Foundation

WASHINGTON, May 14 -- The Epilepsy Foundation today filed an amicus brief in the 9th Circuit Court based in San Francisco, California in support of the employment discrimination case of Fred Mancini, a man with epilepsy who works as an assistant signalman for Union Pacific Railroad.

Mancini sued for discrimination under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Idaho Human Rights Act. He says he was forced to take a medical leave for his seizure disorder and was told by his employer there was no way to accommodate his medical condition.

At the trial level, his case was dismissed in part because the court concluded he was not actually disabled by his epilepsy. It held that because he took medication to control the seizures he was not eligible to be protected by the Act.

"Today's brief is about whether epilepsy is a disability under the ADA," says Alexandra Finucane, vice president for legal and government affairs at the Epilepsy Foundation.

"We introduce data to show that in general and in Mancini's particular case, epilepsy is an actual disability for purposes of the ADA and that his employer regarded him as being disabled," she says. "This includes data about epilepsy's impact on reproduction, ability to interact with others, ability to drive, work, care for oneself and more fundamentally, to breathe. This latter argument introduces data about sudden unexplained death in epilepsy and the heightened mortality rate in general for people with epilepsy."

Congress passed the ADA on July 26, 1990, to ensure for people with disabilities the same civil rights and protection against discrimination enjoyed by others in America. The law promotes equality of opportunity, full participation in society, and economic self-sufficiency for people with disabilities like epilepsy.

"Americans with epilepsy have greatly benefited from the ADA and similar laws," says Finucane, " but people need to continue to work vigorously to pursue their rights."

The ADA provides many tangible benefits to people with epilepsy, according to the Foundation. These include the right not to disclose epilepsy prior to a job offer, or not to disclose at all if not relevant to the job; and the right to admission to public places despite having seizures.

"However, there has been a problem recently as a result of Supreme Court rulings in recent years that have narrowed the ADA's scope in employment cases. People with epilepsy have been told they aren't covered by the ADA," says Finucane. "The Epilepsy Foundation will fight such narrow interpretations of the law, which have unnecessarily restricted the law's reach," she says. "We need to do a better job of educating the judiciary, and work harder to ensure that the law is properly applied to include all people with disabilities. If you've lost a job or cannot get a job because of your medical condition, even when you're qualified to do the work, you should be covered by the law's mandate. That's what the Congress and the framers of the ADA intended," she says.

The national Foundation was also joined in the friend of the court brief by several local Foundations from states covered by the 9th Circuit court and by the Arizona-Disability Law Center.

The Epilepsy Foundation is a network of community-based affiliated organizations that work to ensure that people with epilepsy are able to participate in all life experiences. The organization's goals are to prevent, control and cure epilepsy through research, education, advocacy and services.