Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc.

E560319

Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc. is a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court decision that narrowly interpreted who qualifies as disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act, prompting Congress to later broaden the law’s coverage through the ADA Amendments Act of 2008.

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Label Occurrences
Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc. canonical 1

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Americans with Disabilities Act case
United States Supreme Court case
disability law case
appliedStatute Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 NERFINISHED
appliedStatutoryProvision 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2)
areaOfLaw federal civil rights law
labor and employment law
citation 119 S. Ct. 2139
144 L. Ed. 2d 450
527 U.S. 471
concurringJustice Anthony M. Kennedy NERFINISHED
Stephen G. Breyer NERFINISHED
country United States of America
surface form: United States
court Supreme Court of the United States
criticizedFor restrictive reading of the ADA’s definition of disability
decisionDate 1999-06-22
defendant United Air Lines, Inc. NERFINISHED
dissentingJustice John Paul Stevens NERFINISHED
Ruth Bader Ginsburg NERFINISHED
docketNumber 97-1943
effectOnLaw prompted Congress to broaden ADA coverage through the ADA Amendments Act of 2008
employmentContext airline pilot position
factualBackground plaintiffs were twin sisters with severe myopia who were denied employment as global airline pilots
holding Individuals whose impairments are corrected by mitigating measures may not be disabled under the ADA
Mitigating measures must be considered in determining whether an individual is disabled under the ADA
impact limited the number of individuals qualifying as disabled under the ADA before 2008
influenced ADA Amendments Act of 2008 NERFINISHED
issue definition of disability under the ADA
whether mitigating measures are considered in determining disability
jurisdiction federal question jurisdiction
legalPrinciple disability must be evaluated in its mitigated state under the pre-2008 ADA
legalSubject disability discrimination
employment discrimination
statutory interpretation
majorityOpinionBy Sandra Day O’Connor NERFINISHED
overruledInEffectBy ADA Amendments Act of 2008 NERFINISHED
plaintiff Karen Sutton NERFINISHED
Kim Sutton NERFINISHED
precedentFor narrow interpretation of disability under the ADA prior to 2008
proceduralPosture review of a decision dismissing plaintiffs’ ADA claims
relatedCase Albertsons, Inc. v. Kirkingburg NERFINISHED
Murphy v. United Parcel Service, Inc. NERFINISHED
result judgment for United Air Lines, Inc.
subsequentDevelopment Congress rejected Sutton’s mitigating-measures rule in the ADA Amendments Act of 2008
vote 7-2
yearDecided 1999

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 respondsTo Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc.