Docket Number: 97-1943
Appealed From: U.S. Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit
Subjects: Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. 12112(a); employment discrimination

At Issue: Whether nearsightedness that can be corrected with glasses or contact lenses is a "disability" under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Decision: The court ruled that the Americans With Disabilities Act does not cover people whose disabilities can be sufficiently corrected with medicine, eyeglasses or other measures.

• The full text of the Sutton v. United Airlines decision is available at the FindLaw Internet Legal Resources Web site.

• The full text of the 1997 decision in the 10th Circuit case, Sutton v. United Airlines, also is available at FindLaw.

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

• The pertinent provision on equal employment opportunities for the disabled in the U.S. Code (42 U.S.C. 12112 (a)), 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)