by Eileen Penner, Miriam Nemetz, Robert Bronston and Andrew Schapiro.
1. Americans with Disabilities Act - Application of 15-Employee Threshold to Professional Corporation.
The Supreme Court granted certiorari in Clackamas Gastroenterology Assocs. P.C. v. Wells, No. 01-1435, to decide whether courts should apply an "economic realities" test to determine whether the shareholders of a professional corporation count as "employees" for the purpose of determining whether the corporation is a "covered entity" under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The ADA defines a "covered entity," which is subject to the ADA’s anti-discrimination and accommodation provisions, as "an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee." 42 U.S.C. § 12112(2). An "employer" is "a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year." Id. §