NFIB

Supreme Court to Hear ADA Case
10/09/2002

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that will determine whether shareholders in a professional partnership should be counted as employees or partners in determining the business' exposure under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Businesses with more than 15 employees must make accommodations for employees with certain disabilities under the ADA. In previous, unrelated court decisions, professional partners have been treated as partners at times and as employees at others.

The case before the Supreme Court this term involves a woman dismissed from a medical firm in Oregon, who says the firm should have made accommodations for her medical condition under the ADA. The firm contends it is not covered by ADA, since its four physicians should be counted as partners, not employees. If the Supreme Court holds that the physicians are employees, the firm will be over the minimum number of employees for ADA.