Definition Of Disability Under The ADA

In its first interpretation of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), the Supreme Court held in Bragdon v. Abbott that individuals who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) suffer from a disability protected under the ADA, even when the infection has not yet progressed to the symptomatic phase. The Court's ruling reflects a broad definition of the term "disability" under the ADA, and has the potential for generating a substantial amount of new litigation in settings broader than the HIV/health care setting in which it arose.

The ADA makes it unlawful for employers and certain public facilities to discriminate against individuals who are affected by a physical or mental impairment that substantially affects a major life activity. The Court found that the immediacy with which HIV attacks the body and its severity constituted a physical impairment from the moment of infection. Rejecting the presumption that being HIV-positive establishes a disability under the