Vaughn L. Murphy v. United Parcel Service (527 U.S. 516)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 22, 1999 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 527 U.S. 516 · 119 S. Ct. 2133
- 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. Respondent United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS), dismissed petitioner Vaughn L. Murphy from his job as a UPS mechanic because of his high blood pressure. Petitioner filed suit under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA or Act), 104 Stat. 328, 42 U. S. C. § 12101 et seq., in Federal District Court. The District Court granted summary judgment to respondent, and the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed. We must decide whether the Court of Appeals correctly considered petitioner in his medicated state when it held that petitioner’s impairment does not “substantially limi[t] ” one or more of his major life activities and whether it correctly determined that petitioner is not “regarded as disabled.” See § 12102(2). In light of our decision in Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc., ante, p. 471, we conclude that the Court of Appeals’ resolution of both issues was correct. I Petitioner was first diagnosed with hypertension (high blood pressure) when he was 10 years old. Unmedicated, his blood pressure is approximately 250/160. With medication, however, petitioner’s “hypertension does not significantly restrict his activities and ... in general he can function normally and can engage in activities that other persons normally do.” 946 F. Supp. 872, 875 (Kan. 1996) (discussing testimony of petitioner’s…
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