Independent contractors can claim disability discrimination under the Rehabilitation Act, which covers individuals subjected to disability discrimination by any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance, the Ninth Circuit decides.

An independent contractor who suffered from sickle cell anemia sought scheduling accommodations, which the company said it was not able to provide; the independent contractor subsequently brought suit alleging breach of his employment contract and employment discrimination in violation of the Rehabilitation Act. A lower court ruled that independent contractors are not protected by the Rehabilitation Act, and he appealed to the Ninth Circuit.

In reversing the lower court, the Ninth Circuit says that it had to decide whether the Rehabilitation Act is limited by the Americans with Disabilities Act and only covers employer-employee relationships in the workplace (as concluded by the Sixth and Eighth Circuits) or whether it covers all individuals “subject to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance,” who may bring an employment discrimination claim based on the standards found in the ADA. The Court says it agrees with the reasoning of the Tenth Circuit and concludes that the Rehabilitation Act “incorporates the ‘standards’ of Title I of the ADA for proving when discrimination in the workplace is actionable, but not Title I in toto, and therefore the Rehabilitation Act covers discrimination claims by an independent contractor.” Fleming v. Yuma Regional Medical Center