Opinion ID: 172311
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Regarded-As Claims Under the ADA

Text: The ADA prohibits employment discrimination against individuals with disabilities. 42 U.S.C. § 12112(a). [3] As defined by the ADA, a disability is (A) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities ...; (B) a record of such an impairment; or (C) being regarded as having such an impairment.... Id. § 12102(1)(A)-(C). Where, as in this case, the plaintiff contends that his employer regarded him as disabled, he must show that he has an impairment that does not substantially limit major life activities but is treated by a covered entity [4] as constituting such limitation. 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2( l )(1). [5] See also Jones v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., 502 F.3d 1176, 1190 (10th Cir.2007) (in a regarded-as suit, a plaintiff must show that an employer has mistaken beliefs about the plaintiff's abilities: the employer `must believe either that one has a substantially limiting impairment that one does not have or that one has a substantially limiting impairment when, in fact, the impairment is not so limiting.') (quoting Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc., 527 U.S. 471, 489, 119 S.Ct. 2139, 144 L.Ed.2d 450 (1999)). Working is a major life activity. 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(i); EEOC v. Heartway Corp., 466 F.3d 1156, 1162 (10th Cir.2006). To prevail on a claim that his employer regarded him as substantially limited in the major life activity of working, a plaintiff must demonstrate that his employer regarded him as significantly restricted in performing either (1) a class of jobs; or (2) a broad range of jobs in various classes. See Heartway, 466 F.3d at 1163 (holding that there must be sufficient evidence that the employer subjectively believed the employee to be significantly restricted as to a class of jobs or broad range of jobs in various classes.). The EEOC's regulations define a class of jobs as [t]he job from which the individual has been disqualified because of an impairment, and the number and types of jobs utilizing similar training, knowledge, skills or abilities, within that geographical area, from which the individual is also disqualified because of the impairment. 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(j)(3)(ii)(B). A broad range of jobs is defined as [t]he job from which the individual has been disqualified because of an impairment, and the number and types of other jobs not utilizing similar training, knowledge, skills or abilities, within that geographical area, from which the individual is also disqualified because of the impairment. Id. § 1630.2(j)(3)(ii)(C). We therefore evaluate a regarded as claim under the ADA using a two-step inquiry. First, we must determine whether the employer regarded the employee as significantly restricted in performing his specific job because of an impairment. See Heartway, 466 F.3d at 1165. Next, we determine whether the employer subjectively believed that the employee was significantly restricted in performing either a class of jobs or a broad range of jobs in various classes. Id. at 1163. Because this type of claim rests heavily on the employer's subjective state of mind, we have explained that it is difficult to prove: Proving that an employee is regarded as disabled in the major life activity of working takes a plaintiff to the farthest reaches of the ADA. It is a question embedded almost entirely in the employer's subjective state of mind. Thus, proving the case becomes extraordinarily difficult. Not only must a plaintiff demonstrate that an employer thought he was disabled, he must also show that the employer thought that his disability would prevent him from performing a broad class of jobs. As it is safe to assume employers do not regularly consider the panoply of other jobs their employees could perform, and certainly do not often create direct evidence of such considerations, the plaintiff's task becomes even more difficult. Id. at 1162 (quoting Ross v. Campbell Soup Co., 237 F.3d 701, 709 (6th Cir.2001)).