Washington (State) District Court Dismisses Putative ADA Class Action

As we've commented before, disability claims are particularly poor fodder for class actions.  Unlike other protected traits, there are often threshold questions as to whether an individual is even in a protected class.  Even in those instances where the lead plaintiff is disabled, there may be questions as to which disabilities might be covered – blindness, for example, is completely unlike a lifting restriction – and the extent to which a particular type of disability might affect a particular job or job function.  Taking all of these together, it is difficult in many instances to cobble together a class consistent with the requirements of commonality, typicality, superiority, and predominance.