Docket Number: 97-1008
Appealed From: U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit
Subjects: Disability insurance benefits under the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 428); Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 12101)

At Issue: Whether a person who has sought Social Security disability insurance is presumed not to be a "qualified individual" under the Americans With Disabilities Act and barred from suing for job discrimination.

Decision: The court ruled that a person who applies for Social Security disability benefits is not automatically barred from later suing an employer for discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

• The full text of the Cleveland v. Policy Management Systems Corp. decision is available at the FindLaw Internet Legal Resources Web site.

• The full text of the 1997 decision in the 5th Circuit case, Cleveland v. Policy Management Systems Corp., is available at the U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit Web site.

• Full text of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Justice Department's ADA home page.

• The Social Security Act in the U.S. Code (42 U.S.C. 428), and the pertinent section of the Americans With Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 12101) is available at the Web site for the U.S. House of Representatives' Office of the Law Revision Counsel.

Sources: The Washington Post, Supreme Court, The United States Law Week (a Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. publication)