Discrimination Based on Disability. Vaughn Murphy was first ...

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Discrimination Based on Disability. Vaughn Murphy was first diagnosed with hyper-tension (high blood pressure) when he was ten years old. Unmedicated, his blood pressure is approximately 250/160. With medication, however, he can function normally and engage in the same activities as anyone else. In 1994, United Parcel Service, Inc (UPS), hired Murphy to be a mechanic, a position that required him to drive commercial motor vehicles. To get the job, Murphy had to meet a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulation that a driver have no current clinical diagnosis of high blood pressure likely to interfere with his/her ability to operate a commercial vehicle safely. At the time, Murphy's blood pressure was measured at 186/124, but he was erroneously certified and started work. Within a month, the error was dis-covered and he was fired. Murphy obtained another mechanic's jobone that did not require DOT certificationand filed a suit in a federal district court against UPS, claiming discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. UPS filed a motion for summary judgment. Should the court grant UPS's motion? Explain.

Question 2

The two general classifications of authority an agent can possess are actual authority and implied authority.
 a. True
  b. False
  Indicate whether the statement is true or false

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Answer to Question 1

Discrimination based on disability
The court granted UPS's motion for summary judgment, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed this judgment. Murphy appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which affirmed the lower court's decision. The Supreme Court applied its holding in Sutton v. United Airlines, Inc., 527 U.S. 471, 119 S.Ct. 219, 144 L.Ed.2d 450 (1999), to conclude that Murphy was not disabled under the ADA. The Court also concluded that Murphy was not regarded as disabled because of his high blood pressure. The Court explained that this would have been the case if UPS mistakenly believed that his actual, nonlimiting impairment substantially limits one or more major life activities, but UPS did not. The employer regarded Murphy as unqualified to work as a UPS mechanic only because he could not be certified under the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulation. Did Murphy's inability to obtain DOT certification cause him to be regarded as substantially limited in the major life activity of working? No, reasoned the Court, because under Equal Opportunity Employment Commission regulations, one must be regarded as precluded from more than a particular job. Murphy has shown that he is regarded as unable to perform the job of mechanic only when that job requires driving a commercial motor vehicle. . . . Indeed, it is undisputed that he is generally employable as a mechanic. This was insufficient, as a matter of law, to prove that he is regarded as substantially limited in the major life activity of working.

Answer to Question 2

TRUE

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TYSM

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