Last month, we reported on a decision from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes Tennessee) concluding that an employee’s asthma did not constitute a protected disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. We noted that the decision was contrary to most federal courts’ expansive reading of the ADA’s definition of disability. Last week, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals echoed that expansive line of reasoning, finding that temporary, non-chronic impairments can be ADA disabilities.

Morgan v. Allison Crane & Rigging LLC involved a worker who suffered from back pain. His chiropractor provided a note requesting that the employee be placed on bending and lifting restrictions for 48 days. The plaintiff alleged that he was thereafter terminated in violation of the ADA. The district court dismissed the claim on the grounds that the plaintiff’s back condition did not rise to the level of an ADA disability due to its short duration and the absence of any chronic medical condition causing the pain.

The Third Circuit disagreed, reversing and remanding the lower court decision. The court noted that the 2008 ADA Amendments Act expanded the definition of protected disabilities to include temporary impairments. The question here was not the duration of the impairment but rather whether it substantially inhibited a major life activity.

While minor and transitory conditions may not constitute ADA disabilities, employers cannot expect to prevail against claims purely because the condition was expected to resolve itself in a relatively short period of time. Although the Sixth Circuit last month breathed some life into defending ADA claims by focusing on the alleged medical condition, employers should continue to consider that decision an outlier.

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