Karen Sutton and Kimberly Hinton v. United Air Lines, Inc. (527 U.S. 471)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 22, 1999 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 527 U.S. 471 · 119 S. Ct. 2139
- Decided
- June 22, 1999
- Term
- October Term 1998
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority author
- Justice O'Connor
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice O’Connor delivered the opinion of the Court. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA or Act), 104 Stat. 328, 42 U. S. C. § 12101 et seq., prohibits certain employers from discriminating against individuals on the basis of their disabilities. See § 12112(a). Petitioners challenge the dismissal of their ADA action for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. We conclude that the complaint was properly dismissed. In reaching that result, we hold that the determination of whether an individual is disabled should be made with reference to measures that mitigate the individual’s impairment, including, in this instance, eyeglasses and contact lenses. In addition, we hold that petitioners failed to allege properly that respondent “regarded” them as having a disability within the meaning of the ADA. I Petitioners’ amended complaint was dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. See Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 12(b)(6). Accordingly, we accept the allegations contained in their complaint as true for purposes of this ease. See United States v. Gaubert, 499 U. S. 315, 327 (1991). Petitioners are twin sisters, both of whom have severe myopia. Each petitioner’s uncorreeted visual acuity is 20/ 200 or worse in her right eye and 20/400 or worse in her left eye, but “[w]ith the use of corrective lenses, each . . . has vision that is…
Excerpt of a 39,315-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.