Driving does not constitute a major life activity under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Seventh Circuit rules, for the first time agreeing with three other federal circuits.
A public health nurse who had to drive to assignments suffered from post traumatic stress disorder in the aftermath of a traffic accident, and her physician subsequently limited her driving only to and from work. After her employer agreed to transfer her to a position with driving limited to two hours per day if her physician approved it, the employee missed approximately 20 days of work due to a house fire. Her supervisor then gave her a memo pointing out her attendance issues and asking for improvement. Without notice, she stopped going to work and formally resigned five months later, suing the employer for discrimination and ADA violations.
The Court points out that the ADA defines a disability as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities,” and that this “means functions such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working,” the Court says, observing that these “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,” the Court says. “In fact, many Americans choose not to drive and do not consider the quality of their lives to have been diminished by their choice.” The listed major life activities do not vary depending on where a person lives and is not subject to revocation like driving is, the Court notes.
Although it rules that driving is not a major life activity, the Court says that the inability to drive could create a disability if it caused an impairment of a major life activity. However, the nurse did not show that her inability to drive presented a substantial barrier in her ability to work, or that her inability to drive disqualified her from a class or range of jobs, the Court says in affirming the dismissal of her case. Winsley v. Cook County
