Court Rules Motor Carrier Does Not Violate ADA By Having Higher Standards Than DOT

[Opie]

In a decision issued March 21, 2007, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has held that a motor carrier does not violate the Americans With Disabilities Act when it imposes a higher physical standard for truck drivers than provided for by DOT regulations. In EEOC v. Schneider National, Inc. the EEOC challenged Schneider National's decision to disqualify a driver, Jerry Hoefner, after he had a fainting spell and was diagnosed with a condition called "neurocardiogenic syncope." The disorder affects the nervous system and can produce a sudden drop in blood pressure resulting in fainting. The condition is treatable and does not prevent anyone from satisfying 49 C.F.R. §§ 383.5 and 391.11.

The Court stated that Schneider had the right to have an aversion to the slight, yet potential risk, posed by the driver's health condition. The Court stated as follows:

The EEOC has confused risk with risk aversion. Two companies might each correctly believe that the risk of a particular type of accident was 1 in 10,000, yet one company, perhaps because it was small, financially fragile, owned by a trust, or as in this case had had an experience of the risk materializing, might be unwilling to assume the risk. That would be a decision irrelevant to liability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, even if that company's degree of risk aversion was "unique" in its industry. EEOC v. J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc., 321 F.3d 69, 76 (2d Cir. 2003).

The Court also found that EEOC "must lose because there is no evidence that Schneider considers neurocardiogenic syncope to impair any 'life activity' other than driving a truck. The Court reasoned as follows:

That [driving a truck] is too esoteric a capability to be judged a 'major' life activity. If being able to drive a huge truck or a truck filled with hazardous chemicals safely, or being able to fly a plane or guide climbers to the summit of Mt. Everest, is a major life activity, then virtually the entire population of the United States is disabled, which would be a ridiculous construction to plane on the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Paul Taylor
Truckers Justice Center
Employment Lawyer Burnsville Minnesota Wrongful Termination Whistleblower Attorney

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