NYPD did not discriminate in firing trainee for undisclosed medical history

Dive Brief:

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) did not discriminate against trainee Renee Camoia based on a perceived disability when it fired her after discovering an undisclosed medical history, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held (Camoia v. City of New York, et al., No. 18-3473 (2nd Cir. Dec. 13, 2019)).
The NYPD terminated Camoia because it was notified of an undisclosed history of anxiety and panic attacks that led them to believe she was not qualified to serve as a police officer. She filed suit, alleging she had been subjected to discrimination on the basis of a perceived disability — bipolar disorder.
A trial court granted summary judgment to the employer, observing that the record did not contain enough evidence for a jury to conclude Camoia had shown that the NYPD regarded her as having bipolar disorder. She appealed and the 2nd Circuit agreed with the lower court, find that she was terminated based on her "significant history of anxiety and panic attacks."

Dive Insight:

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) generally protects qualified individuals from workplace discrimination and other forms of bias. It also bans discrimination against a qualified person on the basis of a perceived disability, regardless of whether the person actually has a disability under the ADA. This is known as "regarded as" discrimination.

The "regarded as" prong of the ADA's definition of disability protects an individual from discrimination based on an employer's belief that he or she has a disability. Because it had become difficult for individuals to establish coverage under the "regarded as" prong, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 lowered the bar for such claims so that the focus for establishing coverage is now on "how a person has been treated because of a physical or mental impairment (that is not transitory and minor), rather than on what an employer may have believed about the nature of the person's impairment," according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Experts say employers can prevent "regarded as" claims by training managers on the ADA's nondiscrimination requirements and by teaching them to ask the right questions when employees come forward with a request or begin to struggle with their duties.