Proper Standard For Substantial Limitation In Manual Tasks Requires Proof That Individual's Impairments Restrict Activities Central To Daily Life.

Mondaq Business Briefing, February, 2002

Originally appeared in Labor and Employment Newsletter - February 2002

On January 8, 2002, a unanimous Supreme Court held that a plaintiff must demonstrate that her impairments restrict activities central to most people's daily lives in order to establish a substantial limitation in the major life activity of performing manual tasks. Toyota Motor Mfg. Ky. Inc. v. Williams, U.S., No. 00-1089. The case was closely watched by employers, particularly in the manufacturing sector, because of the broad implications of the holding by the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit that an employee with carpal tunnel syndrome was substantially limited in the major life activity of performing manual tasks because her medical restrictions prevented her from performing many of the...