A year ago, the Supreme Court issued a trio of sexual harassment decisions that resolved a significant disagreement among the lower courts, but introduced a host of new questions. This year, the Court turned its sights to the Americans with Disabilities Act, issuing another trio of decisions that provide significant guidance on the ADA’s scope and meaning, while again raising major questions for employers, employees, and the courts.
The three decisions handed down June 22 should also prompt considerable reflection at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC was on the losing side in all three cases, received surprisingly little deference to its regulations, and saw the Court go out of its way to question matters important to the agency that were not even directly at issue in the cases.
