Opinion ID: 2977176
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sleep

Text: We think that sleep is a major life activity. Boerst v. General Mills Operations, 25 Fed.App’x. 403, 406 (6th Cir. 2002); Pack v. Kmart Corp., 166 F.3d 1300, 1305 (10th Cir. 1999); see also Swanston v. Univ. of Cincinnati, 268 F.3d 307, 314 (6th Cir. 2001) (assuming, without deciding, that sleep is a major life activity). Verhoff argues that his eczema substantially limits the amount of sleep he can get, and the district court found that Verhoff’s eczema limits him to roughly five hours of sleep per evening. But our cases have held that this does not amount to a substantial limit. In Swanston, 268 F.3d at 316, we stated that “[w]hile less than five hours sleep is not optimal, it is not significantly restricted in comparison to the average person in the general population.” 2 Congress has recently enacted major changes to the ADA. Amendments Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-325, 122 Stat. 3553 (2008). Although these amendments do not control this case, we note that Congress has expressly rejected the EEOC’s regulations that “defin[e]the term ‘substantially limits’ as ‘significantly restricted’” because that definition “express[es] too high a standard” and is “inconsistent with congressional intent.” Id. at § 2(a)(9). The amendments further reject the Supreme Court’s directive that the ADA’s terms should be “interpreted strictly,” Toyota, 534 U.S. at 196, and, going forward, Congress has instructed courts that “[t]he definition of disability in [the ADA] shall be construed in favor of broad coverage of individuals under this Act.” Pub. L. No. 110-325, § 4(4)(A). Nos. 07-4265/4348 Verhoff v. Time Warner Cable, Inc. Page 6 Verhoff also argues that, regardless of the amount of sleep he actually gets, his sleep is not restful. Yet, as the district court found, Verhoff has medication to treat this sleep difficulty – which we must take into account under Sutton v. United Air Lines, 527 U.S. 471, 482 (1999) – and thus we agree with the district court that Verhoff’s sleep is not substantially limited.3