Disability Vs. Seniority Research Paper

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Legal Brief

US Airways Inc. v. Robert Barnett (United States Supreme Court 2001)

Type of Action

The type of action brought before the Supreme Court was an appeal from a lower court. The appellate court affirmed part of the prior decision, reversed part of the prior decision and remanded the rest. Prior to reaching the Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard the court (196 F.3d 979)

Facts of the Case

The facts of the case are pretty basic. An employee named Robert Barnett became disabled due to a back injury and thus requested to be transferred to a mail room position that was less demanding physically. Subsequent to that, the employee then lost that job due to be bids being made by employees who were more senior in nature. Mr. Barnett sued U.S. Airways under the Americans with Disability Act for not making proper accommodations and allowing him to keep his job (Oyez, 2014)

Contentions of the Parties

As noted in the prior section, Mr. Barnett had to take a less demanding job due to a back injury. He then lost the job under the established seniority system that existed in the firm. Mr. Barnett asserted that this was illegal as it did not protect his rights and demands of a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. U.S. Airways insisted that the use of their prior-established seniority-based bidding system did not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and thus should not be deemed illegal (NCD, 2014).

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Issue

The main issue at hand is whether an employee covered under the American Disabilities Act is thus protected from otherwise legal employer systems that allow for bidding and promotions based on things and traits that do not overtly violate the law like seniority, time in position, merit and so forth. The back injury in question suffered by Barnett did happen on the job as Barnett was a baggage handled and he was injured while on his U.S. Airways job.

Decision

Although the decision was not unanimous (7-2), it was held that the Americans with Disabilities Act hinges on the words "reasonable accommodation" and that overriding a prior-established seniority system or something similar has to be proven to be "reasonable." In essence, Mr. Barnett would have had to prove that the elimination or temporary ignorance of the agreed-upon seniority system was reasonable given the matter at hand. Indeed, Barnett initially transferred to the mailroom job using his own seniority and he then lost that same job when the job later came up for bid again. Since Barnett's bid that won the job and then the bid that lost it was under a legitimate and legal seniority system that all….....

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