Carolyn C. Cleveland v. Policy Management Systems Corporation et al. (526 U.S. 795)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 24, 1999 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 526 U.S. 795 · 119 S. Ct. 1597
- Decided
- May 24, 1999
- Term
- October Term 1998
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Breyer
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Beeyer delivered the opinion of the Court. The Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program provides benefits to a person with a disability so severe that she is “unable to do [her] previous work” and “cannot . . . engage in any other kind of substantial gainful work which exists in the national economy.” § 223(a) of the Social Security Act, as set forth in 42 U. S. C. § 423(d)(2)(A). This case asks whether the law erects a special presumption that would significantly inhibit an SSDI recipient from simultaneously pursuing an action for disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), claiming that “with . . . reasonable accommodation” she could “perform the essential functions” of her job. § 101, 104 Stat. 331, 42 U.S.C. §12111(8). We believe that, in context, these two seemingly divergent statutory contentions are often consistent, each with the other. Thus pursuit, and receipt, of SSDI benefits does not automatically estop the recipient from pursuing an ADA claim. Nor does the law erect a strong presumption against the recipient’s success under the ADA. Nonetheless, an ADA plaintiff cannot simply ignore her SSDI contention that she was too disabled to work. To survive a defendant’s motion for summary judgment, she must explain why that SSDI contention is consistent with her ADA claim that she could “perform the essential…
Excerpt of a 19,360-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.