High Court weighs whether ADA protects former employees from post-retirement benefit cuts

The Supreme Court heard argument Tuesday in Stanley v. City of Sanford over whether the Americans with Disabilities Act allows a former employee to challenge discrimination in post-employment benefits.

In oral argument, petitioner’s counsel, Mister Gupta, told the court that “the ADA permits former employees in Lieutenant Stanley’s shoes to challenge discrimination in post employment benefits,” and urged the justices to adopt at least a narrow rule allowing suits when the discriminatory act occurred while the worker was still employed (Stanley was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in Feb. 2016 and retired in Feb. 2018). The United States, represented by Mister Liu, urged a similar narrow resolution while cautioning the court not to foreclose other pathways for relief. The City of Sanford, represented by Missus Connor, argued that the ADA’s text—protecting an individual who “can perform the essential functions of the job that such individual holds or desires”—limits Title I to current qualified employees.

Why it matters: the court’s decision could resolve a circuit split over whether former employees may sue under Title I of the ADA for benefits-related discrimination and will…