Assessing ADA protection for recovering addicts

Description

Abstract: A plaintiff who’d completed an inpatient drug rehabilitation program asked his employer whether he could return to work. He was told yes, but with reduced compensation. He filed a lawsuit alleging that he was subject to unlawful discrimination. In response, the employer argued that he wasn’t protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act because, it asserted, he’d still been a drug user when he’d asked to be rehired. This article looks at whether the one month that the plaintiff had spent in the treatment program qualified him for protection under the ADA’s safe harbor provision for people not currently using drugs. Citation: Mauerhan v. Wagner Corporation, Nos. 09-4179 & 09-4185, April 19, 2011 (10th Cir.)