WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court yesterday allowed employers to set weaker protections for disabled workers.
The court ruled that a Toyota assembly-line worker with carpal-tunnel syndrome isn’t entitled to a special job suited to her medical needs.
The unanimous ruling will make it harder for people claiming to have job-related disabilities to get legal protection under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.
The high court ruled that the law has been misunderstood for years and that a federal appeals court was wrong when it said Toyota worker Ella Williams of Georgetown, Ky., was legally disabled because her physical problems limited her ability to do her tasks.
Rather, in an opinion written by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the court said, “The central inquiry must be whether the claimant is unable to perform the variety of tasks central to most people’s lives.”