Federal Court Ruling Will Impact Disability Law In Five States
For the first time ever, a U.S. federal appeals court has ruled that gender dysphoria, a medical condition where an “incongruence between their gender identity and assigned sex” results in “clinically significant distress,” can be considered a disability under federal disability discrimination law. Several federal district courts already have made similar rulings.
According to legal experts at Fisher Phillips, the most significant implication for employers covered by this ruling is that they may need to provide reasonable accommodations for gender dysphoria under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act.
This decision only directly covers employers with operations in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, or Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and West Virginia, but since district courts already are moving in this direction, employers can likely expect similar federal appeals court rulings to follow.
Fisher Phillips experts concluded, “Employers should take proactive steps to prepare for what is likely to be yet another increase in claims under the ADA.”