Supreme Court Decision Makes ADA Murkier
Local Attorney Honored For Post-Sept. 11 Work
by Rene’e Beasley Jones, Staff Writer
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling may open the door to more litigation under the Americans with Disabilities Act and cause companies to limit future exceptions to policies, said San Diego attorney Jim Peterson, a partner at Higgs, Fletcher & Mack.
The case: Robert Barnett, a U.S. Airways baggage handler in San Francisco, injured himself and requested a less-taxing job in the company’s mail room. But employees who enjoyed more seniority wanted Barnett’s job pushing mail.
He asked for preferential treatment due to his disability. U.S. Airways said no.
The Supreme Court recently ruled that employers don’t have to set aside established seniority systems to accommodate disabled workers.
Quite simply, the ruling went against Barnett, stating he did not have more claim to the job than co-workers with more seniority.
Now for the not-so-simple part: The Supreme Court added a “special circumstances” clause.
If an employee can prove special circumstances , such as an exception to the company’s seniority policy in the past , then employers must show that accommodating a disabled employee’s request will impose an undue hardship on the company.
With that caveat, the Supreme Court left a sliver of hope for disabled workers, Peterson said. ” I know that the plaintiffs’ lawyers will take that sliver and try to turn it into a tree trunk.”
Also, he said, the court’s “special circumstances” wording may make employers less likely to grant exceptions to stated company policies for fear exceptions could later be used against them.
Peterson is an ADA expert and specializes in employment law litigation.
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Local Bar Honors Lawyer: The San Diego County Bar Association named David S. Casey Jr., a senior partner with the San Diego firm Casey Gerry Reed & Schenk, the Legal Professional of the Year.
The honor recognizes Casey’s work on behalf of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
As vice president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Casey played a key role in organizing a moratorium on civil lawsuits related to the attacks.
He and other members of the ATLA’s executive committee sought ways in which the plaintiffs bar could assist survivors and those who lost loved ones.
“We knew that people were in shock and were grieving,” Casey said. “Calling for a moratorium on the possible lawsuits was the right thing to do, and it was observed for more than three months. Since that time, only a handful of lawsuits have been filed.”
After the federal government created a victims’ compensation fund, Casey and other ATLA officers pledged to create a nonprofit group called Trial Lawyers Care. Its attorneys will provide free legal services to victims applying for compensation.
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Alex Cory Honored: The San Diego Advocates for Social Justice recently honored Alec Cory, a founder of the law firm Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP, at the 11th Anniversary Celebration of Justice.
Cory, past president of the San Diego County Bar Association, activist and philanthropist, received a proclamation from Gov. Gray Davis making April 24 Alec Cory Day in California.
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Foley & Lardner, a San Diego law firm, ranked fifth out of 335 patent firms nationwide, according to Intellectual Property Today’s Top Patent Firms rating.
Foley & Lardner ranked seventh in 2000.
With 2,307 patents secured, the national law firm increased the number of patents by 30 percent over last year.
Intellectual Property Today is a monthly magazine serving attorneys, executives and agents in the patent, copyright, trademark and litigation community.
The magazine ranked firms based on the number of patents issued in which the firm or one of its attorneys was listed on the face of the patent.
Intellectual Property Today surveyed between 370 and 380 firms for the ranking.
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Klinedinst, Fliehman & McKillop, P.C., a San Diego-based law firm, relocated its Santa Ana office on April 8.
The Santa Ana office moved from 611 Civic Centre Drive to 4 Hutton Centre Drive, Suite 675. The office houses five attorneys.
At its new location, Klinedinst specializes in employment and labor law, business litigation, real estate law, products liability, construction defect and environmental law.
The San Diego office employs 35 attorneys.
The deadline for the next law column is May 17. Beasley Jones can be reached at (858) 277-6359, Ext. 109, or via e-mail at
rbeasley@sdbj.com.
