Is Driving a Major Life Activity under the ADA?

Law can be confusing because there are many different definitions of “disability” depending on which statute you are studying. The Americans with Disabilities Act may define disability differently from the Social Security Act and The Rehabilitation Act. In fact, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provide three different definitions of disability. It is important to understand all three definitions.

According to the ADA (which was recently amended in Jan 1, 2009 and should technically be referred to as the ADAAA), an individual with a disability is a person who (1) has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; (2) has a record of such an impairment; or (3) is regarded as having such an impairment.

In this post, I want to talk about only the first definition. Let’s break it down in smaller components: An individual has a disability if he or she:

• has a physical or mental impairment that
• substantially limits
• one or more major life activities.

Our understanding of this one definition of disability is not complete. There are still three questions that need to be answered: What does “physical or mental impairment” mean? What does “substantially limits” mean? What does “one or major life activities” mean?

The concept of “physical or mental impairment” is broad. It may mean any type of condition, disorder, or disease that causes a physical impairment (e.g., cerebral palsy) or a mental impairment (e.g., Downs’ Syndrome). It may include a wide range of medical issues from abnormal cell growth to to reproductive issues. “Substantially limits” means something that “severely restricts” an individual from performing a particular task that comes naturally to the average person. A “major life activity” can mean many things, and this is often where attorneys from both sides will have an argument about. “Major life activity” includes the following functions:

• caring for oneself
• performing manual tasks
• seeing
• hearing
• eating
• sleeping
• walking
• standing
• lifting
• bending
• speaking
• breathing
• learning
• reading
• concentrating
• thinking
• communicating.

A person who has Cerebral Palsy is disabled under the ADA: Cerebral Palsy is a physical impairment that substantially limits a person’s ability to stand, walk, and/or speak. A person who is deaf or hard of hearing is disabled under the ADA: Deafness is a physical impairment that substantially limits a person’s ability to hear and/or speak. A person with Downs’ Syndrome is disabled under the ADA: Downs’ is a mental impairment that may substantially limit a person’s ability to learn, read, think, and/or communicate.

But what about driving? Is driving a major life activity? What if someone has a disability and the only thing that has been substantially restricted is the ability to drive?

This is a really interesting question, and so far, the federal courts have been in agreement that driving is not a major life activity. See Winsley v. Cook County, Kellogg v. Energy Safety Servs. Inc., Chenoweth v. Hillsborough County, and Colwell v. Suffolk County Police Dep’t.

In the most recent case and the first to be decided under the recently amended ADA, the court in Winsley held that each of the major life activities listed above

have several things in common with each other that driving does not share with them. Most importantly, the listed activities are so important to everyday life that almost anyone would consider himself limited in a material way if he could not perform them. This is not the case with driving. In fact, may Americans choose not to drive and do not consider the quality of their lives to have been diminished by their choice…. Moreover, the importance of the listed activities does not vary depending on where the person lives.

Back in October 2008, one blogger suggested that under the amended ADA, the courts might find that driving is a major life activity. While that is always a possibility, it did not turn out that way in Winsley.

So, it appears that the recently amended ADA does not guarantee that a person who is unable to drive due to a mental or physical impairment will meet the first definition of disability under the ADA. Thus, when an employee claims that she has been discriminated on the basis of disability, a federal court may agree that the employee has a mental or physical impairment. However, if the employee’s impairment affects only her driving, a federal court may not find that the employee has a disability under the first definition of the ADA.

The take-home lesson? It appears that one’s inability to drive, standing alone, may not be enough to win a disability discrimination case.

© 2009, Matthew Stoloff. All rights reserved.

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