Dowd Bennett Wins Reversal on Appeal in Americans with Disabilities Act Case

After the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas granted judgment in favor of the plaintiff and against a retailer employer, Dowd Bennett lawyers handled the employer’s appeal and prevailed.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed the district court’s decision in a major Americans with Disabilities Act case.  The Eighth Circuit’s decision concluded that the ADA is not an affirmative action statute and does not require an employer to reassign a qualified disabled employee to a vacant position when such a reassignment would violate a legitimate nondiscriminatory policy of the employer to hire the most qualified candidate.  As a result, the Court of Appeals found that Dowd Bennett’s retailer client did not violate any duty under the ADA to provide a reasonable accommodation to its disabled employee.

View Eighth Circuit Opinion and District Court Judgment on Remand:

July 26, 2007 Eighth Circuit Opinion 486 F.3d 480 (PDF)
August 1, 2007 District Court Judgment on Remand (PDF)