A split appellate panel ruled for the first time that discrimination claims under the Rehabilitation Act must face the same causation standard as those brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act, aligning the two in accordance with the law, a majority of the panel ruled Thursday.

Circuit Judge John Walker Jr. and U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, sitting by designation, found that Congress’ 1992 amendment to the Rehabilitation Act required the adoption of the ADA’s “more specific” terms, establishing “a general causation standard that applies to most discrimination claims brought under the Rehabilitation Act.”